Second Eve: Survivors
by Aragem
Summary: A small group of humans work together to survive the aftermath of the Apocalypse.
1. Yemina 1

It was raining sending sheets of cold wetness over our shoulders and through our wool hats into our hair biting our scalps with ice. As much as I hated the cold, I appreciated it for it would cover our scent and would muffle the sound of our feet on the pavement and make it harder to see. We kept close against the wall in the alley, staying the shadows though the creatures we feared could see in any darkness as if it was clear as day.

Michael moved to the edge of the alley to see if the street was clear. I stood underneath the fire escaped we had climbed down and waited for his signal. While I waited, I made certain that my backpack was tight over my shoulders, but loose enough if need be I can slip out of it if it were caught or grabbed. My worn shoes had double knotted shoelaces and the soles were molded to my feet from constant use and wear.

The words kept repeating over and over in my mind, ******"**___Go in, grab, and go. Go in, grab, and go. Go in, grab, and go_."

There was a little store down the street. Michael saw it from the upper floor and said that it looked untouched and that there could be a back entrance that we could use to get in. He had become quite skilled at picking locks over the last year and that was a skill that had saved our lives more than once.

He raised his hand motioning me to come. I stepped lightly avoiding the soggy and aged litter at our feet and stood close to his back. The street was clear and lined with abandoned cars we could use for cover. My hand tightened around the gun, knowing that it would be useful against the undead that roamed, but useless against the monsters that hunt. Michael went forward, his body bent in a crouch as he moved to the side of a car and followed its length. I waited until he rounded the front before I followed with both hands clutching the gun. I stayed at least one car length behind him knowing that he was making sure it was safe as he went. I moved when he moved and stopped when he stopped. He kept between the cars stopping, looking, and listening. By the time we reached the alley on the other side of the street, ten minutes had passed. Before the demons came, I could simply walk across in seconds. No, I tried not to think about before. It made me too sad and sick.

Michael was right. There was a back way into the store, but the door was locked. Michael drew out his lock picking kit that he kept with him at all times and went to work while I kept watch. It was early morning, but the things we fear were active at all times of day. The door opened with a creak that was all too loud for me and we hastened inside. Michael shut and locked the door behind us and without a word we looked around. I held my gun at the ready while he clutched his baseball bat in a tight grip. No one and nothing in here save for the rats that had come to get what old morsels they could claim. Our treasure was the canned goods that lined the shelves. Michael took watch while I filled my bag with cans of beans, peas, peaches, pears, and whatever I could fit in the bag, then I checked the old freezer that had long ago stopped working long ago and found several unopened bottled of water. I grabbed those as well even opening one to take a long swig. We had been running low on water.

I handed the open bottle to Michael knowing that his thirst matched mine. He drank and handed it back. I put the top back on and slipped it back into the bag and grabbed his to fill it up with more cans and water. I was feeling good for the first time in a long time. This was the most food I've seen in god knows how long. It was a wonder that this store hadn't been ransacked since the invasion. Now we just have to go back to our camp and we'll be set ******.** . ******.** shit.

Michael drops his hand in a quick motion as if slapping the air and I lie on my stomach while my blood curdled in my veins. Michael lowered himself and we both listen to the sounds of hooves on pavement. It was something worse than the undead. It was cruelty galloping up the street on horseback. I held my breath and counted. It was more than one set of hooves, maybe three or four. I lift my head while moving across the floor toward the window. My body is taut and as I gingerly move through the scattered cans and old food until I come to the door with a large rectangle window that I could easily peer out of without giving myself away.

I saw them then, the horse riders in their blacken armor astride horses with wounds that would never heal yet were strong to carry their armor wearing riders. I held my breath and watched them. They had slowed to a steady trot and among them lurking about their hooves was one those hell hounds as Michael had dubbed them. It roamed about on four legs with a set of long claws with a serrated tail. Its bulbous shoulders hunched as it sniffed the pavement ******.** . ******.** right where we had traveled.

I froze and prayed to God who had long ago forsaken us that the rain had hidden our scent. I couldn't understand them with their broken language that was guttural and ragged, but I could guess that they didn't like standing in the rain and were getting impatient while the hell-hound sniffed and pawed with claws that tore through the paved road and slashed the car tires. While I watched, for the first time I noticed that one of them had a figure across the saddle behind him. At first I didn't recognize it, but then as I stared my mind absorbed that it was a person naked and bound by rough black rope. The back was a mass of welts, cuts, and bruises that bled anew from the pelting rain.

I stared feeling my heart creeping into my throat and nearly gasped when the head lifted weakly and painfully. It was a woman with dark hair that hung in wet strings from her head with a bruised face with an eye swollen shut. A strip of thick rope was shoved into her mouth and tied around her head as a gag and it kept her mouth open at a painful angle. Her open eye was dead, void of hope or knowing only pain. She saw me through the window. I don't know how, but I knew that she could see me.

There was a plea in her eye now. Not a plea for freedom, but a plea to end it. The gun felt heavy as if reminding me of its presence at my belt. She was close at least two car lengths. I'm not a top-notch shot, but I could make that and put a bullet in her brain freeing her from their grasp, but doing so would give me away and if they should catch me ******.** . ******.** well, I was looking at what my fate would be in the face now.

Finally, the leader had enough waiting and yanked on the chain that was attached at the hell hound's shoulders making it yelp in a deep growl and then___motioned for_ the others to follow. They rode off taking the bound woman with them, but she stayed with me for day afterward.

I gave Michael the all clear sign. We left the store locking the door. We returned to the alley and climbed the fire escape to the third level building. We climbed through a window and once the window was shut, we felt safe enough to talk.

"Shit, that was too close." Michael pulled off his wool hat and ran a hand over his blond hair. "That's the reason the store hadn't been hit before. It's on their path."

"Maybe, do you think its worth going back tomorrow to get the rest?" I asked him as I sat down on a sofa covered in dust. It creaked beneath me and I felt as if the weight of the world was sliding off my shoulders.

"I don't know. I rather starve than let those bastards get me."

"It's nice to know that its there if we need. I think we'll be alright for several days with what we have now." I cross my arms over my chest trying to keep warm, despite my soaked clothes. I thought about the woman I saw, the one I could have helped, but didn't. I stood up, I wasn't eager to go back into the rain, but I rather think of how wet and miserable I was than that woman. "Let's head back and rest."

"We could rest here."

I shook my head, "No, you didn't see it, but they had a hell-hound with them and it was sniffing for us. Thankfully, the bastards weren't patient enough for it to get the scent."

Michael didn't argue, but he was none too pleased about going back out into the rain so soon. Michael was a strong kid at age seventeen and the horrors of this new world had made him mature far beyond his young years. He always went first to make sure it was clear before he had me follow and he insisted I take the gun when we went out to scavenge. He dragged a plank which had leaned on the far wall and lie it across the gap between the building we occupied and the next. He crossed the narrow plank into the next building and held out his arms as I tossed our bags over to him, andthen he held the board while I crossed. We crossed like this from building to building until we got to the end of the block, then we went down the fire escape in an alley to a storm drain where the metal lid was easily lifted off. It was a tight fit, but luckily due to scant eating we were both thin enough to slide through into the sewer system where a bicycle was waiting in the tunnel. I rode on the back with my arms around Micheal's waist while he pedal us down a series a tunnels beneath the city. It was generally safe, but we still were alert and there were places we just couldn't go.

Then we came to the end of a tunnel that poured into the river. Michael parked the bike and hide it behind wet cardboard boxes and garbage. We followed along the river's edge toward a train yard. The yard was perfect as there were hundreds of hiding places among the empty trains and box cars. Michael went ahead with the gun to make sure that nobody had moved into our makeshift home while I waited with our collection. He whistled the all clear and I hurried forward anxious to change out of wet clothes.

The box car we called home still had a sliding door with a bucket outside as the toilet. Inside was two mattresses and cushions we had towed from the train station nursing room. There was a small safe we had also collected from the station where we kept our food and essentials locked with a key Michael had. The thought had more than once crossed my mind that if Michael should ever be killed or loss, then I would be without food, but more than once we had returned to a ransacked camp where someone had taken all of our food and belongings. This way, they aren't likely to carry off a safe of which they had no way of opening. Unless they possessed Micheal's skills with lock picking.

I changed clothes while Michael started the fire. We had hung up a curtain over a clothesline string we had found for privacy. We even had a bathroom mirror hanging on a chip of metal coming from the interior wall. As I changed, I caught a glimpse at the mirror and nearly shouted in fright that a strange had entered the car without our noticing. The person I saw in the mirror had long brown hair tangled and dirty which hung to her shoulders. Wide gray eyes were pools of fear and exhaustion in a face pale and soiled and ribs could be easily counted.

I tore my gaze from the mirror and made a promise to 'accidentally' smash it later. I didn't need a mirror to tell me I look horrible when I already felt it in my aching muscles and cold flesh and hungry belly. I stripped off the soiled pants and two sweaters and then pulled on a thick hoodie and a pair of jeans. I pulled back the winter boots.

"As much as I hated my step-dad, I gotta give him some credit for forcing me to learn camping skills," Michael said.

"Yeah?" I replied.

"He took me camping with Buddy and Steven. Ya know, the kids from his first marriage. God, those guys made that week a living hell shoving me into the water when we fished, pushing shaving cream in my hands while I slept and tickling my nose with a feather. I think that was the reason I took up baseball so I was in a sport they considered manly and I used practice as a reason to stay away from them."

Michael had been on a school bus with his team on his way to a game when the meteors fell. He never made it home. I don't know what had happened to his teammates and teachers before we met as that was a story I knew he rather not share, but I often hear him crying in his sleep and would sometimes wake up shouting for his coach.

He was remembering the past, of what things had been before. I quickly said, "Go ahead and change out of those wet clothes. I'll heat up some food."

He silently nodded and stood from the upright cinder block he had been sitting on. He slipped behind the curtain and I proceeded to taking a can opener and opening a can of beans and pouring the contents into a pan I had cleaned in the rain earlier that morning. I held it outside to get some water and began cooking.

I took up Micheal's seat and watched the beans heat up and found myself looking myself in memories.

A friend and I had taken the day off from work and had decided to go shopping in the next town over which had a mega mall. During the drive we heard on the radio reports of meteors and attacks hitting major cities and metropolitan areas. We thought it was a joke or we had changed to a station running a science fiction radio drama until we saw the meteor's ourselves in the distance. We stopped at a gas station which had a TV aired to a news channel. Over and over images of cities being hit with meteors with concerned reporters speaking about the incidents happening across the globe, then the images were of the demons and monsters that came from these meteors. Needless to say I was terrified especially when one of the men changed the channel to a local news station that stated our hometown had just been struck by a meteor.

My friend, Carol, took a ride back to town. She had a husband and son she had been worried about. I tried to talk her out of it, telling her that it was too dangerous, but she went anyway. I never saw her again.

I took the car and continued west toward California where my parents lived. I avoided large cities and town and kept and listened to the reports, then the radio stopped and went silent. There were no more reports after that. I stopped at the store and maxed out my credit card buying food, water, and a gun. Thank God, I had enough foresight to do that. The gun had saved my life more than once before today.

Michael came out from behind the curtain changed in dry clothes, but still looked lost and hurt. He sat across from me on a small stool and collected the tin plates from the corner. I split the food up and we began eating quietly. Michael finished his meal before me and said softly, "Yemina, do you think anything will go back to normal?"

I lifted my face from my meal and stared at him, "What do you mean?"

"Do you think that things will go back to the way they were?"

I shook my head, "No, Michael. I don't think anything will ever be normal again."

Michael swallowed then took a sip from his water bottle. "Then why do we bother living?"

I didn't know the answer to that question. Despite my hunger, I found myself losing my appetite. "I can't answer that question."

"Is this what it's going to be from now on? Us sneaking around praying that those monsters don't find us and eating whatever scraps of food are left? Shit ******.**. . fuck!" Michael stood up fast and threw his plate against the far wall. "Goddammit! I remember pizza, hot dogs, hamburgers! When food didn't come out of a fucking can! When I can walk outside without worrying if anything saw me!"

I clenched my teeth. "So do I******,** Michael. Okay, so do I. Just sit down and lower your voice."

"Jesus, I could kill just to take a bath and wear clean clothes again. Not have to walk around smelling myself."

"Michael, stop. Okay. You're not saying anything that hadn't already crossed my mind. I hate this too."

Michael sat down on the floor so hard it made the wall behind him rattle. He clutched his head with both hands and groaned low in his voice, "We're just waiting to die. Eventually, something is going to happen. Those monsters will find us, we'll starve, or something. We're the last people on Earth. We haven't seen another human being for a month."

I swallowed. I didn't want to mention the woman I saw tied to the demon's saddle. "Michael, we do what we can. We're doing good so far. Go to sleep or read your book. Do you want me to rub your shoulders? I can do that if you want me to." I would have done anything for him to drop the subject.

Michael was quiet then nodded, "Okay."

I scrapped what I didn't eat back into the pan to warm it back up later to finish eating. Michael rose from the floor and went to his mattress and laid face down. I walked over to him blowing warm air into my cupped hands to warm them. I straddled his waist and began working on his shoulders. Months ago, before this all happened, I would have felt uncomfortable being a 30 year old woman giving a 16 year old boy a massage like this, but that world had ended and in this world, no one cared.

"Go to sleep," I told him, "I'll keep watch." We slept in watches. It was too dangerous for both of us to sleep at the same time. Doing so has kept us from being attacked in our sleep or being found.

As I was working out a knot, Michael said softly, "Sorry for yelling at you. It just gets to be too much."

"I understand. Listen, Michael, don't do anything ******.** . ******.** drastic, okay. At least not without talking it over with me first."

"What do you mean?" He yawned and then closed his eyes.

Don't kill yourself without letting me know first. I'll want to die too.

I didn't say that******, **instead I said, "Anything drastic ."

I think deep down he knew what I meant. While I eased him into a deep dreamless sleep with strokes and petting, I wondered myself what we hoped to live for? The human race was dead and there was no hope for a future. Just fear, hopelessness, and for it to end with death.


	2. Yemina 2

"We should leave. Go to another city, maybe find others."

Micheal's voice carried something that both made me feel relieved and worried at the same time. It carried hope. "I . . .I don't know. We have a safe place and we know where food is."

It had been two weeks since we discovered the abundance of food in the store and had since made one more trip that was thankfully uneventful. We were able to eat well for the first time in a long while and it was hard to restrain ourselves from gorging. Hunger had been an unwanted companion since demons came and finally having an abundance of food was an uneasy temptation to eat until our bellies were full. I reminded Michael that unless we find another untouched store with even more food, then we have to make it last.

"Yeah, but its only a matter of time until we eat of that food. I mean, we might be okay for another two weeks, but what happens after? We go back to scrounging in empty homes and buildings?"

It was raining again. Wasn't rain supposed to be a symbol of cleansing or baptism? I wished it would wash all this ugliness away. Listening to the rain pelting the railroad car was soothing, making me sleepy. "Michael, let's talk about it in the morning."

It was my turn to sleep, but Michael wasn't making it easy for me to sleep. "But you understand what I'm saying, right? We could find a safer place with more food. Maybe not all of the US is like this? Maybe the government was able to protect California and that's where everyone is?"

It was a childish fantasy full of hope. I knew it, but seeing that spirit in his eyes felt good and I didn't want to be the one that took it away. I wanted to gently dissuade him from this idea. "How will we go west? By foot?"

"There's an old truck in the stations parking lot. I think I can get it working. . . I did okay in chop shop." Michael was sitting at the open slide door keeping watch. He craned his head to look at me, begging for my approval of his plan. "It might need some parts and we can get those parts from the abandoned cars just sitting around. Then we can get a load of food and water and then drive west."

"It'll be dangerous." I rolled to my side and faced the far wall away from him. I couldn't stand to look into his eyes and see his hope growing as his idea bloomed.

"Yeah, but we have the gun."

"With three bullets." And only one of them was expendable.

"We can get more. I've been looking at a city map. I think there is a gun store on Sanford St. Ya know, near the liquor store."

Who the hell builds a liquor store near a gun store? "That place is too far away for us to get there safely by foot and likely has already been looted."

"It's worth a look at least. C'mon, think about how better it would be if we had two guns or even an assault rifle or a shotgun?" Michael's voice was persistent and grating.

I tried to keep my voice neutral lest I betray my irritation, "Michael, don't you think that assault rifles and shotguns would be the first items taken? Best case scenario is that we find some ammo for the gun we do have."

"So you agree that its worth a shot?"

"I didn't say that." I sat up glaring at him, "Listen, we can't take a risk for stuff that may or may not be there."

"We do the same thing for food. We never know if a house we're knocking off has food in it or not." Michael turned fully to me almost leaning over me.

"That's different." I edged away giving us both space from each other. "That's for food and its in areas that we know are safe. The gun store might have been a twenty minute drive before, but now we have to walk there by foot while hiding from those monsters. There might be a camp of them right on top of that store for all we know. It's too dangerous."

Michael's cheeks turned pink with anger, "If you're too scared to go, I can go alone."

"No! Don't go anywhere alone. My God, don't do that." I grabbed his wrist and held it tight enough that my knuckles whitened. He looked back at my with determination etched into his so young face. I swallowed as I caved in, "We'll go. Tomorrow, early, alright? If it looks dangerous, then we are coming back."

Then just like that, the tension defused between us. I let Michael go and he went back to keeping watch. I laid back down and stared at the far end of the rail car wondering what the hell did I allowed to happened?

I understood where he was coming from. It was something I tried not to think about. What happens when the food runs out? Move to another part of the city? We were lucky enough to find this place. Would we be so lucky again? Worst of all, what if Michael was right? What if there was safe place in the west? God, there was so many what ifs.

I didn't sleep.

I came to this city because it hadn't been hit by a meteor. It appeared that others had the same idea and I waited through traffic and went around road blocks before I was finally admitted into the city. People were herded to different shelters throughout the city.

I met Michael in one of those shelters. He had been a sullen teen sitting in the corner with lacerations on his face and cuts and tears in his school jacket. He didn't speak and stared at the floor. From what I heard he had gotten a ride with a couple who were fleeing an area that had been bombarded with meteors.

They were collecting guns at the door way. Not wanting any of the panic citizens from 'accidentally' shooting off a round in a tightly crowded area. I kept my gun hidden in my suitcase and was fortunate enough that they were doing quick, sloppy searches and didn't find it. Usually, I followed the rules, but this time I felt that it was better to hold onto it. I was a single woman traveling alone during a crisis. I did not want to be without protection.

It was a wise move.

Michael suggested trying to get their by sewers, but I shot down that idea firmly. We didn't have a map of the sewers system and I didn't want to get lost. When I was a little girl, I believed those stories of alligators living in the sewers. Horrible fearsome things lurking in the watery darkness with a mouthful of sharp teeth and a great hunger for meat. I could see those imagines in my head and they didn't belong to gators.

It was a wet morning and the fog was thick. I felt it brush passed my face and over my hands and arms. Good, we'll be harder to see. If were going to do this, then now was the time. One would think that night would be better, but some of those things were nocturnal.

I let Michael lead the way. I held the gun and watched our rear. We kept away from the streets and kept to cover as we always do. Along the way, we scavenged so it wouldn't be a wasted trip if my fears proved to be true. We moved from familiar territory toward the downtown area. We began seeing things that we really didn't want to see.

There was a fairly intact car that had crashed into a light pole. The front window was cracked with a bloody smear. I ducked low and approached the car while Michael kept watch. There might be supplies inside that hadn't been looted or taken. I glanced into the front seat and saw an overturn baby seat in the front seat. The seat was stained with blood just like the window. I backed away not wanting to see or know.

Stray paper and dust blew in the wind and the silence was grating. Buildings were scarred with telltale signs of demons going by. It was unnerving seeing these streets and knowing that I walked down them just months ago when the cars carried anxious people. Refugees were swarming the streets under the firm direction of the men in uniform. I keep expecting a car to roll down the street or to see someone walking out from around a corner.

We past through buildings ducking away from windows as we went. If we couldn't gain entrance, we went through alleys or back ways, anything to avoid the main street which the demons seemed to favor for travel. If we had to cross the street, we waited and listened before each took a turn running across and hiding into an open door or empty alley.

Just when the street, we stopped solid in our tracks. Ahead, one building away, came the broken guttural speech of demons. _Shit._

Bad plan, very bad plan.

"We're going back," I whispered under my breath.

"We can go around." We were inside an empty clothing store and were kneeling behind a row of moth eaten and dusty clothes. He pointed at a employee's only door. "I bet that leads out back."

I shook me head, "No, we're too close."

"The gun store is just several blocks over and they can't be more than one block away. We can go around."

"No!" I nearly used my normal voice in my desperate bid to keep from shouting. "It's not worth the risk."

Then without a word, Michael turned and headed to the door. I stared at his retreating back in disbelief that he would do something so stupid and selfish. And I also held disbelief in myself that I was following him.

The back alley was cluttered with trash and broken bottles. I was careful to step around them, hoping that Michael was just as careful. I barely spotted him turning a corner at the end. I hissed his name again as I followed while gripping the gun so tightly, my palms were sweaty. I arrived at the end and looked around until I noticed him motioning to me across the street from the window of a broken window. The front of a coffee shop was open, likely the door he used. I dashed across the street mentally calling Michael nasty names.

The shop still smelled of coffee and I could see full packages on the shelves behind the counter. God, its been a while since I brewed a cup. In passing, I grabbed a fallen package and tucked it into my bag along with the other scavenged items. Michael was picking a locked door.

"Michael, dammit, stop. Stop."

"We need another gun." Michael's voice was firm with determination. Nothing I could say would deter him.

The door opened with a click and we went through. I was imagining all the horrible things that would happen to us if the demons caught us. My mind drifted back to the woman bound across the demon's steed and I shivered. A part of me said that I could just leave Michael and go back to the train station alone. Alone. Could I handle being alone in this nightmare?

We went the long way around. I followed Michael, but kept my ears open. Every time litter crunched beneath our feet was just too loud even though we were too far to hear the demons. I followed closely, hoping that we could either pull this off safely or that Michael would wise up and we can go back.

We entered a sporting goods store and Michael stopped in the door way.

"What's wrong?" I was taller than him so I was able to easily see over his shoulder.

Standing before us with figure dressed in thick clothing holding a bow with an arrow aimed at Michael's heart. A moment of numbing silence came over us as we stared in shock. The figure had a thick scarf wrapped around the face and head with a pair of goggles over the eyes. Gloved hands held the bow and arrow unwaveringly and I could hear the whine of the string being held tightly.

"Get outta here." The voice was muffled. I couldn't tell whether it was a male or female voice. "Go back. This place is ours."

Ours? There were others? I was afraid, but a part of me was thrilled at the site of another human being.

"Look, we just wanna pass through." Michael held up his hands showing he was unarmed. "We're not here to steal or cause trouble."

"Good, ya ain't cause ya'll are gonna go back out that door and leave."

I realized I had a gun in my hands and it was behind Michael so the person couldn't see it. But would the stranger hear me click the safety off? I could do it while I lifted the gun and shot. Did I want to shoot the stranger? No, I did not. Would I be forced to do so? I never found out because we heard the screams. It was a terrifying sound that sliced through me like a razor. It was a child screaming.

"Sunny!" The figure pelted forward shoving Michael and I aside and ran at full speed down the street.

Then Michael followed the person, his long legs carrying him. I was stunned. This was the time to run away while they were occupied a cold voice said in my brain. Then child screamed again and I found myself propelling myself down the street after Michael and the stranger as fast as my legs could handle. My hands gripped the gun as I clicked off the safety. The screams made me forget that we were running toward demons.

We dashed down an alley and on the other side we saw a demon standing at least eight feet lifting a car off the pavement as if it was a bale of cotton. Beneath curled up into a tight fetal position was a little girl who couldn't be any older than five. The demon tossed the car across the street where it collided into the brick wall. Metal scream while bricks crunched from the impact. The girl's following scream was long and dreadful as the demon reached for her with a huge four digit hand that was wider than a manhole cover. An arrow whistled through the air and embedded at its waist. It didn't go in deep, but it was enough to gain his attention. The demon swept his reddish eyes towards us just as the stranger let loose another arrow and this time, it put out its right eye. The demon roar with a bloody rage or it could have been cursing at us. Regardless, it reached over its shoulder and drew a battleaxe that could split cattle in half. It stepped forward and knocked a car out of its way with the flat of the axe. The demon's strength sent the car rolling and it smacked into the building beside its wrecked mate.

All this noise would surely bring other demons and one was bad enough. The stranger backed away, nocking another arrow into place and drawing the string back. Another arrow whistled and this time the demon moved his head and took the arrow with his shoulder. It bounced off the thick hide there and fell to the concrete. I glanced over at Michael and saw that he was making a wide circle around the demon keeping out of its view. He was going for the girl who was still frozen in place on the road. We had to get the demon to come away further from her. I lifted my gun and shot. The bullet barely grazed it's neck, but it was enough that the demon was tired of the game of being shot. He lunged forward with the axe arcing before him.

The stranger flung himself to the ground just the blade would slice him in half. I shot again aiming for the remaining eye. The bullet hit the temple area, but where it would have killed or at least neutralized a human it simply stunned him for a moment. And that moment was all Michael needed to rush to the girl and pick her up. He ran back around the demon and we would have all departed then, but unfortunately the hell hound showed up. It spurted from the alley just as Michael was passing and collided with both teenage boy and little girl. Michael was sent sprawling across the floor with deep slashes that cut through his jacket arm and into his flesh. And dangling from the demon dog's razor sharp teeth was the girl.

The girl was wearing a blue backpack. And it was from this backpack that the demon dog held her. It shook it's head vigorously like a dog worrying a bone. If something wasn't done soon, then the girl's head would be dashed upon the pavement killing her. I lifted the gun and pulled the trigger. I missed. Shit.

Then the airs on my arm raised as my sixth sense gave me a warning nearly too late. I threw myself forward just as the demon's hand swooped for me. In a reflex that I couldn't control, I turned and shot him. The bullet entered his chest, just below a grubby nipple with an iron ring and it did nothing to him. Black blood oozed from the wound for a second and then stopped. I had wasted our last precious bullet for nothing and now it was going to kill me.

It glared at me with it's remaining eye and I knew it was picturing all the horrible things it would do to me once it caught me. I scrambled back with my butt dragging on the pavement leaving the gun behind. It approached me ready to make another grab for me, but then an arrow took out it's remaining eye. As it's remaining lights were put out, curses in its broken tongue rang out like wicked thunder. Through it all, I was able to hear Michael yell.

"Put! Her! Down! Put! Her! Down!" Michael held a pipe with both hands and with each word he brought it down across the hell hound's head and bulbous shoulders.

It dropped the girl who collapsed in a weeping heap and then went for Michael's throat. I don't know how, but I was on my feet and was leaping forward. I landed across it's back throwing off its aim. I nearly lost an eye as my face smashed against it's spiny back. It's growl was ragged and full of rage and it twisted in an effort to grab me with its teeth and pull me off. I heard its teeth snapping nearly my legs, but I pulled again and held on. From the corner of my eye, I saw Michael with the pipe and then heard it connect against the beast's head with a wet thunk over and over. With each blow, Michael grunted as he put all his might behind each swing. And then I wasn't alone on the hell hound. The stranger was on it next to me a hunting knife in hand that flashed before being sunken into the monster's flesh again and again. Between me holding it, Michael bludgeoning it, and the stranger hacking into it, we killed it. I didn't let go until the thing was on the ground and not moving.

I got up feeling sore from the intense effort of holding onto it. Blood soaked into my coat and jeans. I could feel the thick liquid coating my skin and I would have given anything for the sky with break open with rain and rinse this filth off me. Then my thoughts turned to the girl. She was still on the pavement weeping in broken sobs and she was scooped up by the stranger who set her on her feet and checked her over for damages. From what I could tell, the backpack took most of the damage with ripped holes and its contents scattered across the ground. I don't know why, but I felt sad seeing crayons, Barbie dolls, and coloring books scattered across the ground near the blood.

"We got to go." Michael picked up the girl. The stranger shouted a protest, but Michael cut him off by pointing behind us, "Look!"

The demon was on his feet and was blinding swinging his axe toward us. We had to go. I grabbed my fallen gun, the stranger collected the backpack and scooped up the toys, and Michael carried the girl into an alley that we came from.

We were inside the waiting room of an office when Michael set the girl down and set heavily in a chair. "I just need to catch my breath."

We had run the whole way, not daring to slow or look behind us. It was fortunate that we killed one demon and blinded the other so neither could point in the direction we went. The girl was whimpering and she rubbed her face on the back of her sleeve. I was able to get a better look at her since we weren't being attacked or fleeing. Her blonde hair was tied back with a hair band with beads shaped into white daisies. She wore a yellow sweater which was dirty and denim shorts that ended just beneath her knees. Her shoes were scuffed and pink with little pictures of Dora the Explorer at the ankles.

"What's her name?" I asked as I glanced out the window to see if we were followed.

"Ya don't need to know." The stranger who was slinging the bow over his shoulder. "Ya helped us and we thank ya, but we split off from here."

Just as I could see details about the girl in this calmer setting, I also saw details about the stranger I didn't notice before. "How old are you?"

"What? I'm twenty!" The stranger stepped back, but then I saw through the goggles at the youthful eyes behind them.

"If you're twenty, then I'll go back and kiss that demon on the mouth. Where are your parents?" God, she couldn't be any older than fifteen years old.

"What happened to yours?" she turned back on me.

"Daddy, I want Daddy," a small voice piped up from behind me. The little girl was still standing where Michael had set her. "Daddy went hunting. Emmi, when is Daddy coming back?"

"Shut up, Sunny," the girl snapped, but I could hear the strain of frustration and grief in her tone.

A cold revelation crawled over me. "How long ago did he leave you?"

The elder sister looked away before saying, "Two weeks."

"Alright, you are coming with us. We have a safe place and food." Before the girl could protest I raised a hand and said, "You can't go back. That place will be swarming with demons looking for us soon if they aren't already. We are staying somewhere far away and hidden. Your father wouldn't want you going back that way either."

"What if my dad comes back? He won't know where we've gone."

"Once it settles down, we can try going back, but right now its suicide."

Before the girl could argue with me her sister behind me said, "Emmi, he doesn't look too good."

And she was right. Michael was pale and still breathing hard with his mouth open and eyes closed. Blood was dripping off from his finger tips and onto the floor. Shit, I had forgotten about his injuries from the hell hound.

Michael was okay because the building we entered was a clinic with a locked store room. Michael was able to bring himself around enough pick the lock and inside we found treasure cove of medical supplies. We cleaned his wound and thickly covered it with bandages. I held off giving him a painkiller until we got back to the railroad station lest it made him drowsy. And while he rested in the waiting room, I began collecting as much medical supplies that I could fit in my bag. The elder sister began collecting her share of the supplies. While we worked, the little girl stayed on the floor near Michael and played with her dolls quietly.

I felt nervous. We have been in this building for nearly half an hour, the longest I've stayed in one place short our hiding place. And now we'll be moving with four people instead of two. It'll take longer to get back and now we have more mouths to feed.

I was having second thoughts about this. Maybe it would be better just to let them go on their way. It was hard enough with just Michael and me. However, a more resourceful voice pointed a few things out to me.

"You're pretty good with that bow," I whispered to her while we gathered.

"Yeah, I'm in the archery club and my dad almost got to go to the Olympics for archery so he taught me a lot." Emmi was slipping bottles of antiseptic into her bag.

"So you know how to hunt?" I was hopeful that maybe now we had another source of food instead of scavenging.

"Yeah, dad taught me. I got a couple of squirrels on my pack, but it's getting really hard to find anything so dad said he was going to outside of the city to find bigger game." Emmi zipped up her pack and shouldered it. "I know how to build a campfire, skin and cook game, and other stuff. I can cook the squirrels if ya want."

"But the fire's smoke would tell them where we are."

"Not if you make a smokeless fire. Dad taught me how to make one and I got what I need in my pack for it. We can't do anything about the light at night, but if the sun's still up when we get to your place then I can make a fire to cook with."

Okay, now the cynical and selfish part of me shut up at the prospect of having fire for warmth and cooking. It would be the first time in months since I had a hot meal.

I asked her one more question, "How old are you?"

"I'll be thirteen soon," the girl said adamantly.


	3. Yemina 3

Their names were Emily Johnson, age 12 going on 13, and Samantha Johnson, age 4. They were also known as Emmi and Sunny. When the demons came, they had been vacationing with their father, Nathan Johnson in the Mayfield Camping grounds. They had heard of the attacks on the radio and Nathan had wisely took them deeper into the woods and hid out until Emmi cut her wrist while skinning game. Nathan decided that they needed to stay close to the populous areas so they could get access to medical facilities whenever necessary.

He had them hidden away in an abandoned shed at the edge of the park where squirrels still foraged. They did well scavenging and hunting until they picked the area clean and their father had decided to hunt for larger game outside of the city limits. He told Emmi that he would be gone for a few days. He kissed her and her sister goodbye and promised that he would be back before they would miss him.

They never saw him again.

We arrived at the railroad station just before sunset. Emmi had Michael fill an old worn pot we used for sponge bathing with water while she prepared the squirrels for cooking. I supposed that left me to look after Sunny and keep her out of the way. The little girl look curiously at our makeshift home while I tried to think of something to do with her.

Fortunately, she solved that problem by digging a coloring book out of her ripped backpack, "Can I color?"

"Oh, yes, honey, just sit over there and color if you want to." I motioned to the mattress Michael and I share. Sunny sat crossed legged on the worn mattress and opened a jumbo size coloring book to an half colored image of a butterfly and began filling in a wing with blue.

I wasn't experienced with children, and I had no idea of how to talk to her. I sat down near the open door of the rail so I could keep an eye on her and be on hand if Michael or Emmi needed help. It felt almost invasive to have strangers here as it had always been Michael and I here for so long. And it was so odd to see a small child doing something as normal as coloring in this dying world. Sunny was a pretty little girl with blonde hair and sky blue eyes. Her small lips pursed as raked a blue crayon over the paper. I wanted to say something reassuring, but what can I say to a child who likely just lost her father?

I kept myself busy with going through my pack and taking stock of what I grabbed during a failed trip to the gun store: the coffee I grabbed from the coffee shop, a thick wooly blanket, a bottle of aspirin, and a handful of plastic wrap eating utensils. I set them on the box we used as a small table and shelf. I listened to Michael and Emmi talking outside.

"No! You put too much water in it!" Emmi's voice piped up from outside.

"You said fill it up!" Michael's voice was strained with impatience.

"Not that full! You'll water down the stew."

"Then why didn't you tell me not to fill it up all the way?"

"Just pour some of it out."

"Fine."

Water sloshed out on the ground.

"Not that much!"

I was tempted to stick my head out and tell them to cool it, but this was the first time since the Apocalypse that Michael someone close to his age to argue with. As long as it didn't come to blows, I was fine with it.

The stew was the first hot food I had in a while and it was wonderful, even though it could have done with some seasoning. It sadly reminded me that I once lived in a world where I could eat hot food whenever I wanted. Emmi told us her story while we ate.

"Have ya seen anybody else?" Michael asked between bites of stew.

"Yeah, one time. Some guys tried to take our stuff, but Dad ran 'em off with his machete," Emmi replied without looking up from her meal. She shoveled stew into her mouth not wasting a bite or a drop. Her sister ate silently beside her. She sat at the box with the plate set on it and the meat torn into small pieces for her.

"Our group used to be bigger," Michael said quietly, treading on a painful topic for me. No more needed to be said about the other members of our group.

I didn't want to think about the people we've lost. However, looking at Sunny made me think of the Coopers. During my stay at the shelter I met a young couple with a little baby girl who was barely six months old. Anthony Cooper had been a construction worker who married his high school sweetheart Karen Cooper shortly after graduation. They married six months prior to their daughter's birth. Karen and I became quick friends and shared stories to keep our fears of what was happening outside at bay. She kept talking about the whole thing blowing over and going home. I wished that I could have shared in her optimism.

We finished eating and not one piece of meat was leftover. I sat back on the mattress and just basked in the wonderful feeling of having a decent meal. Michael rinsed off the plates and cleaned out the pot outside while Emmi put Sunny to bed on the mattress. It didn't take Sunny long to fall asleep as it was likely due to the scrap with the demons earlier.

"So what alarms do you guys got around here?" Emmi inquired as she slipped away from Sunny's side.

"Alarms?" I asked. The door was open allowing cool night air into the metal box of our hiding place.

"Yeah. Dad had us tie cans to string so that way if something came close we heard it before it found us." Emmi handed her plate to Michael would be rinsing them off outside.

"We don't have anything like that. We just take turns doing watches."

"Wow, so you didn't have a full night's sleep in how long?" Emmi asked.

"I don't remember," I admitted already feeling fatigued.

"I can take first watch tonight and tomorrow we'll string up some alarms," she offered.

"Sounds good to me," I said through a long yawn.

Where Sunny was blonde, Emmi was a brunette with her long hair tied back from her face in a loose tail. There was a splash of freckles across her nose and cheeks that barely stood out against her suntanned skin. Underneath the tight bundles, she wore jeans with soiled butterflies stitched at the pockets and a red turtleneck. She was a pretty young girl who would look more at home on a farm or ranch instead of the urban surroundings.

Since Sunny was asleep, I broached the subject gently with her, "About your father . . ."

"He's dead," Emmi muttered dropping her eyes onto her lap where she was picking at the laces on her boots.

That was likely the case, but I didn't want to put it that bluntly. In a reflex, I tried to comfort her, give her hope, "He might not be . . ."

"No, he's dead. He said that if he wasn't back in three days, then he was dead and Sunny and I should head west to where mom lives." Emmi twirled a lace between her thumb and forefinger.

Great, and now they lost their last loving parent. "Michael and I were talking about getting a truck. You can come with us."

"That's cool. Yeah, we'll come. Do ya have a gun?"

"We do, but we're out of bullets." Pointing out that I used up the bullets on saving her and her sister didn't seem right. "We were trying to get to a gun store for more bullets and maybe get another gun."

"That place is empty," Emmi scratched the side of her nose. "I mean it looked like a tornado spun up inside it. I couldn't find anything work taking."

I felt disappointed and relieved to hear that. Getting another gun would have been nice, but I didn't want to try going back there again. Since Emmi confirmed that the gun store was no good, then Michael won't want to try going back. And that reminded me that I needed to speak with him.

Before I went outside, I said, "I'm sorry about your father."

Emmi shrugged her shoulders, "I try not to think about it, cause if I do I think I'll start crying and then Sunny will know. She still thinks he's going to come back soon."

"You'll cross that bridge when you come to it. I'll be right back." I hefted myself up and went outside.

Though it was getting dark, I could make out the outline of Michael urinating down track. I waited until he was done before I approached him. He zipped himself up and turned to me, "Emmi's a good cook, but she's bossy."

I level my gaze at him with my arms crossed, "Michael, you care to explain what happened back there? Why did you took off like that?"

Michael rubbed the back of his head and dropped his eyes from me. "I knew of another way around. We would have been okay until we ran into Emmi."

"You just took off alone and left me behind when there were demons nearby. You could have gotten us kill."

"We didn't get killed and we saved a little girl." He pointed at the rail car where Sunny slept.

"Don't twist this around to make yourself look like a hero. It could have just as easily gone the other way. I'm not going to ride you about this, but I will say this," I hiked a thumb behind me, "if you pull that shit again, you are on your own. Got it?"

"What? You'll just go off on your own?"

"If it's safer to be on my own than around you, then yes."

Michael crossed his arms and looked away. "Yeah, I got it."

I think I may have hurt his feelings, but fuck it, I am not his mother. I don't need to be gentle with his feelings. He had put me and himself in danger with his foolish antics and I had to make it clear that it wasn't acceptable. Would I really leave him? I don't know and I didn't want to find out.

I didn't like seeing Michael upset so I quickly brought up a topic that would make him feel better, "Emmi and Sunny are going to come west with us. You can start working on that truck tomorrow."

Michael wasn't ready to become cheery yet. He sullenly muttered, "What changed your mind about traveling?"

"Emmi. She fed us today with two squirrels. We have another source of food other than scavenging. I was thinking we could making another run to that store to grab what we can and save it for days when Emmi can't find anything."

I was hoping that it would cheer him up, but he looked annoyed instead, "She's twelve."

"Yes, she's twelve, but she can hunt game while you're fifteen and can fix a truck."

"I guess." Michael scuffed his shoe on the edge of the track and still didn't look at me.

I gave up trying to make him feel better and went back inside the rail car. Emmi had taken off her boots to make herself comfortable. She was wearing thick wooly pink socks with blue toes and heels. They looked out of place with her worn beaten outfit and dirty face and hands. I sat across from her and settled down to become comfortable. However, becoming comfortable made me drowsy and we had to determine who would take first watch. I decided that Michael still owed me for his foolhardy actions and would take first watch.

"When it gets dark, I'm going back to our camp to get our things."

This certainly took me out of my comfortable state, "What? You can't go back out there!"

"I have to. We have food, tools, and my dad's gear. Don't worry, I've gone out at night before and they never see me." Emmi pulled unzipped the front of her jacket and I could see she was wearing a blue sweater underneath. It had blood stains on it, likely from cleaning game. "The monsters are either partying or fighting each other. I stole from them when they were passed out drunk once."

Then image of those creatures laid out in drunken stupors while Emmi went through their things was both comical and terrifying. "Jesus Christ, Emmi."

"Yeah, Dad got really mad." Emmi glanced away as if the memory of her father was too much at the moment. "They got good stuff. Their arrows hurt them a lot more than my regular ones, but I can't hunt with them. The meat turns rancid. Dad says the arrows are likely poisonous so we only use them if we think demons are nearby."

I stared at this girl who wasn't half my age. I admired her for her bravery and also wanted to chasten her as her father did. "When you go to their camps . . .have you found out why they are doing this?"

"Other than they are a bunch of mean assholes?" Emmi asked.

"Yeah."

"No. I don't know why they want to kill us."

* * *

When Michael heard that Emmi was going out by herself later that night, he wanted to go with her.

"Kid, you can't go by yourself!"

"I'm a kid!? You're not much older than me! And you're too loud, I heard you lumbering around two buildings away." Even though Michael stood a sizable head and shoulders over her, Emmi stood her ground and didn't let his size intimidate her in the slightest.

They were outside arguing in low sharp voices. In the past, these two kids would have been yelling at each other at the top of their lungs, but months of hiding and whispering has taught them to keep their voices down even in a heated argument.

"You're going to need backup." Michael hissed.

Emmi jerked her fingers at his chest, "I've been doing this since those things came. I can move faster and quieter without you and I can protect myself without you. And you're just gonna get me killed acting like a jackass."

Did she hear us earlier? I watched from inside the rail car deciding whether I should intervene or not. Michael uttered a foal oath and punched the side of the car. He stormed away down the track. I didn't bother going after him as I knew he needed time to cool off.

Emmi shouldered her bow and zipped up her coat. Before she turned to leave said to her, "Be careful out there."

"Yeah, if Sunny wakes up, tell her that I'm using the restroom. She'll get scared if she thinks I'm traveling around at night," Emmi said. "She thinks I'll disappear like Dad. She's doesn't let me go scavenge or hunting without her."

Ah, so that was why she was out there when we met Emmi. I nodded, "I understand. I'll take care of her."

When Emmi disappeared into the dark shadows, for the first time, I became apprehensive about her leaving. What if, like her father, she didn't return and Michael and I was sacked with a child, another mouth to feed that couldn't carry her own weight. I forced those thoughts down. It wasn't worth worrying about it before the girl was gone two minutes.

Michael game back ten minutes later. His face was still clouded with anger, but he was calm. He hefted himself into the car and dropped himself against the wall. He wouldn't look at me and then I realized what his problem was. His male pride had been greatly damaged today. First when he failed to secure a gun for us and then again when Emmi, a girl younger than himself, gone off alone without him. And I had to berate him earlier as if I was an angry mother.

"Michael, how are you planning on fixing the truck?" Maybe talking about something that he could do would make him feel better.

He looked surprised that I mentioned it. "Uh, I was going to going to get parts from other trucks near the parking lot. I think I already told you that."

I shrugged, "Getting attacked by a demon can make you forget a lot of things."

He told me about the parts he needed and he seemed pretty confident that he could get the truck working. I nodded giving him my full attention and asking questions so he could give further explanation to boost his self-esteem. I hoped that this would repair his pride so he wouldn't have problems with Emmi in the future. We needed her if this plan of his was going to work.

Michael took first watch and I was able to sleep for four hours. When he woke me, he told me that Emmi hadn't returned. I worried, but I simply told him, "It's going to take her a while. She is going by foot after all and she's moving slowly."

"Yeah." He glanced at Sunny who still slept and I knew he was thinking the same thing as I was earlier. Another responsibility we both didn't need on our shoulders. No, it was terrible to think that way.

Michael curled up on a blanket and fell to sleep. Shamefully, despite my turn to watch, I was more tired than I realized and I drifted back to sleep and dreamed.

Images flowed through my dreams. Dark shapes roaming over a beautiful meadow. Three flaming faces of stone. And four horses galloping over a barren wasteland. Then terror took over as I heard a little girl scream. I jerked upward so hard it hurt my neck. Sunny was gone from the mattress. I breathed hard while my senses came back to me and I heard soft singing from outside. I crawled to the open door and saw that it was still dark and cool out. A child's voice carried as an innocent melody.

It was a nonsensical song that young children are known for singing. It followed the melody of familiar children's song, but the words were her own. I stepped out of the car and called her name.

Sunny appeared from around the corner and for an instant. . . so quick I wasn't sure if it was there or just a blink of my eyes, there was movement behind her. A quick slip of shadows that gave me pause before I said, "Why are you out there?"

"Talking to Simon." Sunny toddled to me.

"Simon?" I looked, but could only see the darken train station around us.

"Simon. Emmi says he's not real."

Oh, an imaginary friend. It makes sense that a child would seek solace in imagined friends then real life. I took her hand and led her back inside, "What were you talking about?"

"About you and him." She pointed at Michael who was still sleeping. "He don't like Michael, but he likes you."

"That's sweet of him." The child was using her imagined friend as a focus for her likes and dislikes it would appear. "Let's go back to sleep."

" 'ma not tired."

"Just try. Lay down and close your eyes. Your sister will be back soon."

"I know. Simon says she's on her way back."

Sure enough, an hour after Sunny went back to sleep, Emmi returned with several bags of supplies and quiver full of black arrows with thorny shafts. While she quietly unpacked her bags, I said, "Sunny was up talking to a Simon."

"Oh, him? She started talking to Simon since she was three. Dad said she'll grow out of talking to him when she goes to school. I guess she's going to be hanging out with him for a while."

"Does she talk to him a lot?" I began to fear her imagination might bring a danger to us later on. What if she burst into speech when we were hiding from demons?

"Not really. She says that he doesn't come around much as he got a job. He works for a Council so he only comes around at night."

"Wow, an imaginary friend that has a government job. I never heard of that before." For the first time since I met her, she smiled. It made me feel good and hopeful to see that smile, "Can you imagine a giant bunny in a suit carrying a briefcase?"

"Actually, she says that Simon can fly. So I picture him as a giant bird wearing a suit."


	4. Emily 1

Sometimes I hate Dad for disappearing and getting killed. For leaving us alone like he did. I know why he did it, but I still hate him for it. I know that he didn't mean to and that he would have came back for us if he could.

I like Yemina, she seems to have everything together. She's nice to Sunny even though I don't think she's been around kids much. Michael is just dumb. He think just because he's a guy that he should be the one that fixes everything. Well, excuse me for not having a dick.

He's doing his manly thing of getting parts from cars to fix up the truck. I offered to help because the sooner he gets it done the sooner we can go, but he says he can do it himself. I let him work alone and work on putting together cans on a string so we could all sleep tonight.

I used the dagger I stole from the demon camps to put a hole in the tin to thread twine through. Sunny was playing outside the car while Yemina talked to me.

"What did your father do?"

"Other than hunt and take care of us?" I asked.

"Yes."

"He was a forest ranger."

"Ah, I guess that makes sense since you know so much about hunting and all."

I shrug my shoulders and wondered why everyone keep saying the same thing about me and my dad. I didn't want to answer any more questions, so I asked some of my own.

"You got any kids?" I asked.

I could tell that the question took her by surprised as she stuttered, "N-no, no kids."

"Never wanted any?"

"Never had the chance."

"Are ya married?" I duck my head to pretend I was concentrating on tying off the string so she couldn't see my smile.

"Divorced." She was looking away as if looking for an escape.

"He cheat on ya? Or did you cheat?"

"No one cheated. We fought a lot and realize that we weren't meant to be." She rose to her feet and edged toward the door, "I'm going to see if Michael needs help."

And she was gone. I chuckled to myself, pleased that I was able to run her off. I had finished the alarm cans anyway and I just had to string them up. I stuffed them into a sack and hopped outside. Sunny was nearby digging in the dirt with a spoon when she saw me.

"C'n I come?" she asked.

"Yeah, c'mon on."

She followed around across tracks and around rail cars. She trotted to catch up with my long strides, but managed quite well.

"I told Simon we were going to my Mommy's house." Sunny pipped up behind me.

"Shhh, don't talk so loud." I glance at the sky. Some of those monsters could fly, but fortunately, I haven't seen them since we came to the city. "And I told you to stop talking to him. He's not real and your making too much noise talking for no reason."

"He is too real!" She stumbled over a thick track rail. I halted to catch her, but she quickly recovered.

"Will you watch where you're walking?" I stopped at an open chain link fence and dropped the sack.

"I am!"

"I said don't shout." I began to pull out a string of cans, but cut my finger on the sharp edge of a can. "Dammit!"

"You swore! I'm gonna tell Daddy on you."

"Just go back to the rail car and wait with Miss Yemina if you're gonna act like a brat," I snapped throwing down the offending can. I sucked on my finger and tasted the coppery blood.

"No, I want to stay." Her bottom lip stuck out as if she would start pouting.

"Then shut up." And she did . . . for five minutes.

I tied the cans across the entrance and shut the gate. I tested it several times to make sure that it was loud. Even without the cans, the door moved with a loud screech.

"Will Daddy find us? We're not at the camp."

I swallowed a tight knot in my throat. "He'll find us. I went back to camp and left a note. If he doesn't meet us here, then he'll find us at your Mom's."

"Oh."

We didn't share the same mother. My mom died when I was five. Sunny's mother left when she was two. Dad said that things weren't working out between them, but I saw her kissing one of his forest ranger friends in the back yard the month before she left. She was pretty with long blonde hair and bright blue eyes. She never liked going outside even though she laid outside in a bikini to suntan a lot. I didn't really want to do to her place, in fact, I hoped she was dead.

I thought Michael was going to beat his chest like a dumb gorilla when the truck hummed to life. He was pumped his fists in the hair and he grinned through layers of dust and grease on his face. Now we had to siphon gas from the other vehicles.

It was easy enough to get the gas from the other parked vehicles. Just before sunset, we had filled up the tank and had almost a full gallon left over to keep us going down the road. I was eager for us to leave in the morning, but Yemina said that she and Michael needed to get more food from some store they found the other day. And she wanted to get a road map so we knew if we were going the right way or not.

We talked about it that night over a can of peaches. "If you tell me where it is, I can go get it."

Michael turned red and said, "Yemina and I can go get the food. We've been there before and we'll be able to get to it and come back faster. And we'll carry more too."

"You and Sunny can get everything packed up and ready so we can leave when we get back." Yemina was trying to be soothing as if I was going to pitch a fit for not going.

"Yeah, alright." I shrugged not caring one iota.

I glanced toward Sunny who was eating off a plate with a spoon that I suspected may have been the same one she used to dig holes with earlier. She was quietly eating her fill and occasionally glanced out into the night. I took away her plate and spoon when she finished, "Bedtime, kid."

"I'm not tired," Sunny whined.

"You will be soon and we have to leave early tomorrow." I set the plate and spoon aside. "Come on, I'll tuck you in."

"No, I want Mina to."

I blink and I didn't need to see Yemina to know that she was just as surprised as I was. "Why?"

"Because I like her and so does Simon."

"Fine, do whatever." I got up and went outside.

The cool air was comfortable and it lifted the heavy weight in my head. I looked up at the starry sky and made out the different constellations. Dad taught me how to make them out from the other stars. He taught me a lot of things.

Then it happened. A hot tear rolled down my cheek and I felt my lips tremble. I pressed a hand over my mouth to stifle a sob. I walked away before they could hear me. I gasped as I headed toward the far fence wiping my eyes.

Why did Dad have to die? How could he have left me and Sunny alone? He should have stayed with us or took us with him. Why did any of this have to happen?

I barely . . . ._barely . . ._ noticed them in the distance. The eerie glow from their armor reflected from the windows of the buildings down the road and my eyes, sharpen from years of hunting, saw it. I backpedal and my heel caught on the edge of the track. My back hit the tracks hard knocking the air from my lungs and leaving me gasping for air. I forced myself up and my eyes watered as I stumbled back to the rail car.

I smacked into the side and croaked, "They're coming . . . they're coming."

One thing I had to give Yemina and Michael credit for is that they waste no time. Yemina collected Sunny from the mattress and shushed her when she protested sleepily. Michael grabbed food, tools, and everything within his reach and stuffed them into a bag. I hauled myself in and grabbed my gear and stung my bow over my shoulder and grabbed the quiver with the black arrows.

"Did they see you?" Yemina whispered.

"No, I don't think so."

"Are you sure they're coming this way?" Michael glanced outside, his eyes squinting to see.

"Yes. They were heading in this direction. They might not know that we're here, but if they have one of those dog things with them, they will soon." A cold, cold chill settled in my bones as I realized that the demons were coming the same way I did when I came back from our old camp. Did they track me!?

"We're going now," Yemina muttered. "We're not taking chances. Let's get in the truck and follow the tracks out until we can get on the road. Drive with the headlights off and we'll go slow unless they see us."

Yemina carried Sunny who was clinging to her fearfully, while Michael and I carried the rest of our supplies to the truck. We moved quickly, but carefully in case we made any sound or attracted any attention. I climbed into the back and knelt at the back window with a black arrow nocked. Michael dropped his load into the back beside me and got into the driver's seat. I glanced inside to see Yemina holding Sunny tightly on her lap.

I held my breath as Michael started the truck and I scanned the dark station and listened. So far, so good.

Gravel crunched under the tires and I placed a hand on the edge to keep from tipping over as the truck rocked along the tracks. I kept watch and listened. Fortunately, the demons love a good chase and they make all sorts of racket when they were after something. If they see us, they'll let us know with horns and shouting.

We left the station behind and turned onto a main road and this was were it would get really dangerous. My heart thumped in my chest as I glanced from alley to alley and at each window. All it would take is one of them to see us and give a shout. Worse, if they have a horn. Those horns didn't blow like any I had heard before. It was a high shrieking sound that carried long and far attracting demons from miles. We could easily have the whole city of demons on us if we were unlucky.

I would feel so much better once we left the city and got into the woods. More places to hide and better cover. I hoped Michael knew which way to go. I glanced into the back window and saw Yemina point right and he turned in that direction. Maybe she knew how to get out of the city.

I glanced up just in time to see a demon on the street ahead and he had a horn in hand. While my mind processed what I was seeing, my body was moving. I lifted the bow, drew the arrow back to my ear and let it loose.

The arrow struck his throat just as the horn touched his mouth. Instead of the horn blowing, he choked on his blood as we passed. I slapped the back window for Michael to go faster and he stomped the gas pedal. I noticed that Yemina had Sunny's head covered with a towel or blanket. Maybe it was to keep her from seeing anything that would make her scream or panic. Or maybe it was to comfort her. Anyway, I was glad that Sunny didn't see the demon.

An hour later, we were outside the city. Michael took the truck off the highway and into the woods as far as the truck could fit. We spread the blankets onto the back for sleeping. I took first watch. I sat on top of the truck with my bow while Michael and Yemina tried to sleep. They were both too scared to sleep, but didn't want to admit it in front of Sunny.

Sunny was sitting up between them, "Emmi, I gotta pee."

Yemina lifted her head, "Does she need me to take her?"

"Naw, she can go herself. Just behind that tree, okay, Sunny?" I pointed at the nearest tree. "And be quick."

Yemina lowered Sunny onto the ground and gave her just one sheet of toilet paper. Michael was already awake staring up at the sky so she didn't bother moving quietly. Sunny toddled off behind the tree I indicated and I resumed watching and listening. I felt safe, secure in the woods. I even looked forward to hunting.

"How much food do we have?" I asked.

It sadly took a short time for Yemina to look over our food supplies. "Enough for two days if we stretch it. Damn, we really needed to hit that store again."

"I want to put several miles between us and the city before I hunt. And we might come across gas station with something on the way. And get that map too."

Yemina rubbed the back of her head, "I hope so.

"We'll need gas too." Michael sat up looking tired and older. "Em, how close were they when you saw them?"

"Close. Very close. I think they would have been on top of us if we had stayed there five or ten minutes longer."

"Shit," he cursed under his breath. "Why didn't they hear us?"

"What?"

"If they were that close, then why didn't they hear the truck turn on? Or see the tail lights? I had the headlights off, but the tail lights come on whenever you hit the brakes. Wouldn't they have seen them?"

I thought for a moment and then shrugged, "I dunno. Maybe they weren't look in our direction. Maybe something else got their attention when the truck came on? Or maybe I was wrong and they were going in the opposite direction. I'm just glad that we got away."

We were quiet with not having anything more to say. Then sure enough, Sunny's voice came from the bushes, which was further away than the tree she was supposed to take her piss. I scooted off the truck and landed on my feet. I stalked off into the thick area to collect her.

"Bye bye!" I shoved through a collection of bushes to see her standing in a clearing waving.

Before I spoke, I stopped. A shadow moved across the grass, real quick, like a mouse darting into a crevice when the lights in room is turned on. I exhaled when I realized that it was a branch in the canopy waving above us. That was what it was. "Sunny, come here. I told you not to go any further than the tree."

"You told me to pee pee behind the tree and I did." Sunny wrinkled her nose at me. "Simon wanted to know why we left."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." I took her by the hand and led her back to the truck.

"Simon told me to tell you nice shot."

Maybe she did see the demon after all.


	5. Michael 1

Michael

We were two hours away from the city and the gas needle was at the halfway point. The truck was gobbling up gas faster than I would have liked. I kept this information to myself and kept an eye open for signs pointing to nearby gas stations. We had gone past a few, but I wanted us to be further away from the city before we stopped. Yemina was asleep in the passenger side and Sunny was sitting between us playing with a doll. Emmi sat in the back like some redneck or like that grandma from the Beverly Hillbillies.

I really don't like her. She's just a kid, but she acts like she's freaking Katniss from Hunger Games with that bow and arrow. Don't get me wrong, she was useful when fighting that demon and hunting for good, but those arrows are just plastic and wood. They break easily. We need a gun. I wanted to go to the gun store or find another one, but Yemina was done with the whole business. She wouldn't even give me the chance to find another. Just fix the truck she told me and I did. We were riding in the truck _I _fixed myself without any help.

"Can we turn on the radio?" Sunny asked in a loud voice.

"Shhh, I don't think there's any music, kiddo." I didn't want her to wake up Yemina who didn't get much sleep last night.

"No CDs?"

The truck was too old to have a cd player. It still had a receptacle for cassette tapes. I looked at it thoughtfully and pressed the eject button and a cassette popped out.

"What's that?' Sunny pointed at the tape.

"Old cassette tape. These were around before CDs came out." I pushed the cassette back into the player and pressed play. The music was low coming in a dull whisper. I adjusted the volume and the music was an old country song played from the stereo.

"I don't like this song. It sounds boring," Sunny whined.

"Sorry, but it's either this or nothing." I checked the upcoming sign and it stated that a gas station was five miles down the road. Good.

Fortunately, the demon's sudden arrival was so swift people didn't have time to evacuate. Unlike in those disaster or apocalypse films, the roads weren't pack with abandoned cars. That isn't to say that that we didn't have to go around any obstacles. I had to move into the other lane when we came across a car that looked like it was used as a chew toy for a giant dog. The idea that there were bigger demons that what we've seen was scary enough to have me sweating.

Finally, we came to the gas station and I hoped that it still had power so we could pump gas. There was a wallet in my pocket with several credit cards that I found in a dead man's pocket. I figured that it would become useful in the future. It wouldn't hurt to have.

There was a couple of cars parked by the gas pumps, but there was one open. The front door of the building was smashed inward from looters and it was dark inside.

A thump from behind me made me jump. Emmi was knocking on the window, "What are you doing?"

"Getting gas!" I hollered as I parted the truck in an empty spot next to a gas pump.

Of course, this woke up Yemina. She rubbed her eyes and asked, "Where are we?"

"At a gas station. I want to top off the tank."

And Emmi didn't want to shut up. She knocked on the window again, "We're parked too close. Back up."

"We're parked were we need to be to get gas."

"Goddammit." Emmi punched the glass hard enough that I bet – hoped – that it hurt her knuckles. "It's not safe. Back this thing up now!"

I switched off the engine and took pleasure in it too. "We need gas."

Yemina glanced at the gas gauge. "We're half full."

"Yeah, but I want to keep the tank full."

"But don't we have a gallon of gas in the back?" She studied me with her cool gaze. It was the sort of gaze she reserved when she felt that I wasn't doing something right.

I felt my resolve weaken under that gaze. Did we really have to stop for gas now? Could this place be dangerous? The interior darkness of the building looked ominous. There could be anything hiding in there.

Emmi smacked the window again, "Stupid, look at the cars. Why are they just left there? Because whoever came here never got the chance to leave."

Maybe it was because she called me stupid or it was her annoying know-it-all voice. My resolve came back strong as steel and I yank the key out of the ignition and open the door. Emmi didn't let up. She glared at me as I open the lid over the gas tank. "The power's off. We can't get gas."

"Then I'll get it from the other cars, genius," I snapped back.

"Move the truck back first," she growled.

"I'm already out of the truck." I tucked the keys into my left pocket and reached into the back for the gas can and hose.

"Just hurry," she hissed at me like a feral cat. She had her bow and arrow loaded ready for whatever boogy thing that would come crawling out of her imagination.

I emptied the gas can into the tank and then headed for the two abandon cars. All the while, mini-Katniss was keeping look out. Yemina was talking quietly to Sunny, likely about whatever adults talk to little kids about. I headed to the other cars and as I got close I saw that the back seat was packed with supplies, one even had a folded tent. This was turning into a better and better idea.

It took some doing and I _nearly _got a mouthful of gas, but I had the gas pouring into the gas can. I tried the passenger side and found that it was locked. No problem. There was a chunk of concrete on the pavement. It took only one good throw through the passenger side and that glass shattered.

And then the car alarm began screaming.

It was so loud it made me ears throb. I heard Emmi yelling at me and Yemina shouting. I looked inside through the shattered window, but there were no keys for me to turn off the alarm. I unlocked the door and reached over to the backseat door to unlock it. From the corner of my eye, I saw a pale figure at the broken doorway at the building.

I had seen these things before in the city and there was never just one. It used to be a man. When he was alive his hair was thinning and he had been wearing a blue t-shirt with jeans. Maybe he had a family he was trying to get to to safety before he died and became a shambling dead thing. His shirt was ripped and bloodied. At the chest was an open crack like a crusty wound that would never heal. His eyes were empty, devoid of any human emotion save for the hunger. There were others behind him.

I was able to drag the tent out of the backseat and a pack of water bottles and haul them to the truck. I threw them into the back before jumping into the driver's seat. I was gunning the gas before I even had the thing started. As the truck sped out of the parking lot, I think Emmi lost her balance and fell on her rear in the back. I was too afraid to care.

"Michael, stop the truck," Yemina said. "You can stop the truck now."

"But . . ."

"You're going nearly ninety. You're going to wreck us and . . .Sunny wet her pants."

* * *

We stopped at a rest area. After Emmi made sure that it was clear, Yemina took Sunny there to wash her up. I sat at the family picnic area and sipped from a bottle of water. I could top it off from the nearby water fountains before we leave.

"Ya know, you really are stupid." Emmi said. She was glaring at me from across the table. "And not just stupid, dangerous stupid."

"Shut up," I replied without looking at her.

"No, you shut up. If I had things my way, we'd leave you here."

Damn, that was cold. "I got us a tent and water."

"So? It ain't useful if we're dead." Emmi put a foot on the seat and leaned forward. "You're not a team player. You should have said something to me or Yemina before just stopping."

"You're just a dumb kid. What do you know!?"

"Yeah, I'm a kid, but I'm a kid that had to grow up fast or get killed. So I suggest you grow fast before you get us killed."


	6. Yemina 4

Yemina

Thank God the water still worked in the rest area. I had Sunny take off her pants and underwear and soaked them in the sink. I took handfuls of toilet paper from the stall and wet them to wash Sunny. She was weeping saying that she was sorry over and over.

"Sunny, shh, shh, it's alright. No one is mad at you. I nearly pis . . .peed myself too." I set her on the edge of the sink and washed her. In fact, I went ahead and took off the rest of her clothes and have her a bath, one that she sorely needed. Her skin was dirty and she smelled. I pumped handsoap from a dispenser and used that to wash her. The sinks were large enough for her to sit cross legged.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to," she sniffled.

"It's okay. You were scared, we all were. And you needed a bath anyway. Pee yew!" I tickled her ribs to make her laugh. "I wish I small enough to fit in the sink so I can take a bath."

Now that I thought about it, it might not be such a bad idea for us to take time to sponge bathe in here. There was plenty of soap in the dispensers and we wouldn't be using any of our water supplies. When will we have the time to indulge in this rare luxury?

I dressed Sunny in a large t-shirt that she could easily wear as a dress. I wrung out her soiled pants and underwear and gave them to her, "Take these outside to your sister. Tell her that I'm in here getting a bath so she can lay these out on the hood of the truck to dry them."

"Okay, Mommy."

I watched her toddle out of the bathroom wondering if I heard her correctly. It may have been a slip on the tongue for her. She was very young after all.

I stripped down to my waist and began to wash. The water was cold but felt good, very cleansing. I bathe my arms, shoulders, and chest. While I was cleaning forward washing my face my nose inches from the mirror, the shadow move behind me. It was very quick, if I had blinked when it moved I would have missed it. Behind me, a strip of darkness moved beneath the stalls.

I held my breath. My heart pounded. Emmi said the bathroom was clear. I watched and listened. There was no further movement, but was that a hiss or was that my breathing?

I cut my bath short and dressed quickly. I hurried outside and stopped at the bathroom doorway. Michael and Emmi stood side by side at the picnic tables. Sunny was hiding under a table and fearfully watching Emmi who had her bow and arrows drawn and aimed at two men standing at the truck. They both had shotguns aimed at the kids.

One of the men noticed me and grunted, "Lady, call yer girl, tell 'er to drop the bow and arrows."

"They're trying to steal the truck, Yemina," Michael said.

"Jest c'mon over here with yer kids, ma'am," the man motioned me over with his gun.

I slowly walked over with my eyes never leaving the gun aimed at me. As I drew closer, I saw that the men were actually middle age man and his teenage son who was few years older than Michael. I had thought we were living rough. Their clothing was torn and soiled. In the right breeze, I swore I could catch a whiff of their body odor which was sour and awful. At the passenger side of the truck was more people. A woman wearing a stained church dress holding two small children close to her. She looked terrified and her wide eyes were on the Michael and Emmi. The children she clutched tightly at by the hands couldn't be older than six years old. They were painfully thin with large eyes and gaunt cheeks. Were these people living in this rest area or in the woods?

As I stood next to Emmi and Michael, with my hands up, I said, "Please don't do this. We need those supplies as much as you do. We can work together, we can get to safety together."

"Cain't do that." the father muttered. He was wearing a red baseball cap and he had a thick beard likely from not being able to shave for the last several months. "Not enough back there for mine and yores. We need it more n' you, so we're takin' it. Hand over the keys or we'll hafta take it from ya."

I could have tried to begging him, appealing to his humanity, but wasn't this humanity I was looking at in the face? This man was doing what he believed was best for his family's survival and was that any better than what I had done in the past? This man will shoot and kills us to provide for his family if he had to.

"Michael, give him the keys," I whispered, though it killed me to do it.

"Yemina, I can't . . ."

"Michael, just do it."

Emmi's face paled as Michael yanked the keys from his pocket and tossed them onto the pavement. The son started forward to collect the keys, but the father stopped him. "Bow and arrows too."

Before Emmi could respond, I shook my head, "No. You can take everything else, but we keep the only means we have of getting food."

The father looked at me hard, but I held his gaze without flinching. I don't know what he saw in my eyes, but he nodded, "Fine, but she put 'em on the table behind 'er. I won't 'ave 'er pointin' 'em at us."

"Emmi . . ."

Her face was red with fury and she slammed the bow and arrow on the picnic table so hard I feared that she had broken them. I understood her feelings. It was sickening to see the son grab the keys and pass them to his father. The woman looked at his teary eyed and murmured 'I'm sorry' over and over as she helped her children into the truck. The son climbed into the back keeping his gun on us while his father started the truck. Just as the truck began rolling away, Michael lunged forward.

Before the son could react, Michael reached into the back of the truck and yanked out the pack containing the tent. The only think he could save from being stolen. The son didn't shoot him. I don't believe that the son didn't really want to shoot another boy. He wasn't as harden as his father.

We had a tent so we had some shelter, but all of our food, water, clothes, everything was gone. Taken by strangers.

Emmi screamed. A torrent of curses and foulness spurted from her mouth as she began pick up and throw rocks in the direction of the truck.

"I HOPE THEY DIE! I HOPE THEY FUCKING DIE! FUCKERS!"

I sat down heavily on the picnic bench behind me and cried.

* * *

We avoided the road and went deeper into the forest. We found a clearing before dark and set up the tent. Emmi went hunting and came back with a rabbit. No one spoke. Even Sunny's innocent cheerfulness was deflated in the face of loss.

We ate quietly. I was too afraid to say anything lest I pour gas on the simmering anger from Emmi. Michael seemed proud that he was able to rescue the tent, but even he knew not to poke at Emmi during this foul mood.

Sunny finished her share of the rabbit looked at me and said, "Mommy, I want more."

"She's not your mom." Emmi's voice snapped like a whip.

I ignored her. "I'm sorry, honey, but that's all we have."

"But I'm still hungry."

I felt a rush of anger at the thieves. We had plenty of canned food that we could have opened to feed a hungry child. "I'm sorry, here, you can have a few bites of what's left of mine."

I let her have the rest of my share even while my hungry stomach protest. The rabbit didn't stretch far between four hungry people. It made me think of the city where there were plenty of buildings that had food hidden away. It burned me that miles away there was plenty of food that we could easily find. Hunger had always been a threat, but it was with us now in our stomachs.

I began to wonder if leaving the city had been a good idea, but from how the demons nearly found our hiding spot so easily, it was inevitable. If Michael hadn't so foolishly attempted to get gas then Sunny wouldn't have wet her pants. And if Sunny hadn't have wetted her pants . . .

No, no, no, I am not going to play the blame game. There was no sense in blaming the kids.

Unfortunately, at that moment, the kids weren't above blaming each other.

"This is all your fault." Emmi growled at Michael from across the small campfire.

"What!? How? I didn't steal the truck!?"

"You nearly got us killed at the gas station!"

"I was trying to get gas!"

"You were being stupid about it!"

Their voice rose with their anger. I stood up and grabbed their shoulders hard enough to whiten my knuckles. "Stop it! Sit down! Stop yelling! Loosing the truck sucks. It really really sucks ass, but ya know what, we'll get by. We got a tent, Emmi can build a fire and hunt, and . . and we'll get by. We just going to have to suck it up and go on."

I pushed them to sit down. As I sat down, I notice Sunny's tear streaked face. Oh God, she was blaming herself for being the cause of us stopping at the rest area. I pulled her onto my lap and held her tight to my chest. I whispered to her that it wasn't her fault. I told her that Michael didn't do anything wrong. Her sister didn't do anything wrong. The only ones to blame was the people who stole the truck.

Michael took first watch while the rest of us slept in the tent which was red and family size. I lay between Emmi who tossed and turned elbowing me in the back. Sunny tucked herself against my stomach and sucked her thumb. I was stuck laying on my side not wanting to move to disturb the little girl and getting my back bruised by an angry girl behind me. Since I couldn't sleep, I lay awake worrying about tomorrow.

I told the kids that we would get by, but how? The only shelter we had was a tent and no food. Would the tent hold up against rain? What if Emmi can't find food? What about water? What happens if we come across demons or more people wanting to steal from us?

The anxiety chewed on my nerves and I got up. Sunny whimpered in her sleep, but I had to get up or I was going to go crazy. I crawled out of the tent. Michael was sitting with his back to the tent. He turned around when he heard me. "Can't sleep?"

"No, but I'm alright." I sat down beside him. "I'll take watch. You can go to sleep if you want."

"Naw, I'm alright."

Were we really alright? Would we ever be alright?

We sat together quietly. The leaves rustle in the breeze and the stars speckled the sky, lovely in defiance of the ugliness of what occurred.

"We should have had a gun."

I looked at Michael and said, "Maybe."

"If we had a gun then those guys wouldn't have gotten the truck." He had his arms curled around his knees. "I could have shot 'em and kill 'em."

The frighten woman with the two small children flitted through my mind. If we had killed the father and son, who would have taken care of them? Then we wouldn't have had two deaths on our hands, but five. However, could the presence of a gun escalate the situation? What if the father decided that it was safer to outright kill Michael or Emmi, or even me whichever of us had the gun?

"Don't you agree? If we had a gun then it wouldn't have happened?" Michael wanted confirmation from me. Confirmation that his ideal that having a gun solved all problems.

"I don't know, Michael. I wish to God that it didn't happen, but we can't keep focusing on what we lost. We need to focus on what we can do to fix the problem. We could head back to the city and get another vehicle and supplies. We know that there's food back there."

Michael shook his head, "We can't do that. It's too far to walk and the demons are back there probably hunting us. I don't think they like it that we got away and killed one of their own." He poked the remaining cinders of the campfire and said, "We could go back to the gas station. I can hot wire one of the cars, the one I didn't break into. We can get the rest of the gas from the other car and maybe get some more supplies from the gas station."

"But what about those . . .things?" It felt too surreal to call them zombies, even though there was no other word to call them.

"Emmi has her bow and we could use some branches as clubs. Or I could sneak in and get the car. They didn't show up until the alarm started." Michael stirred the ashes webbing out the black soot.

"Maybe. It sure beats us going hungry out here another night."

"Yeah."

We shared the silence together. I heard Emmi mumble something in her sleep, but then go quiet. My stomach ached for more food and I wished I could drink water to ease my hunger. I found that I was calm and getting drowsy.

"Yemina, do you think it was karma?" Michael asked me.

"Karma?"

"Yeah, for stealing from all of those houses and stores. We musta stolen like thousands of dollars worth of stuff." Michael twirled the stick between his fingers not looking at me. "We stole and got stolen from."

"No, it's just bad luck." I yawned and rubbed my eyes. I was finally getting tired where I could sleep. "I think when the Apocalypse happens everything is up for grabs."

Michael didn't answer. He turned his gaze toward the trees. "Yemina, I know this is going to sound strange and stupid, but do you get the feeling that we're being watched."

I quickly scanned the trees for any figures or glowing eyes. "What do you mean?"

"I mean . . . like before you came out here, I thought . . .it might have been a tree branch moving or just my imagination, but I thought I saw something moving." Michael pointed at the clearing's edge. The ground was crisscross with a shadowy webbing of the canopy's shadow.

Cold fear grasped my heart. I remembered the movement I thought I saw in the bathroom and on the night when Sunny and Emmi joined us. "Was it slow or fast?"

"Very fast."

"Did you hear anything?"

"No, nothing. No footsteps or a twig breaking." Michael's became pale as fear gripped him. "Is it . . .them?"

"No." I said firmly. "If it was them do you think they would just stand there in the dark watching us? No, they would be on top of us right now if it was them." I composed my face and made myself sound calm and comforting, "It was probably nothing. Maybe a rabbit or an owl flying over."

"Yeah, maybe." Michael warily watched the woods.

I also watched the trees, but we saw nothing. Or at least, nothing that wanted to be seen.


	7. Yemina 5

The morning felt muggy and I would have even anything for a shower and coffee. I got up with a sore back and was very thirsty. Doubtless, Emmi and Michael were as sore and miserable as I was. Emmi was still angry over what had happened yesterday and Michael was no better. Sunny sat on the ground and tugged at grass while we put away the tent. I realized that her backpack with her toys and coloring books had been in the truck when it was stolen. She no longer had her toys to keep her occupied or to take her mind off the horrors around her.

I don't know why, but I felt that her loss was the bitterest of all.

Then we traveled in a single file line. Emmi led the way with me carrying Sunny on my back and Michael behind me with the tent. Where it had taken minutes of Michael speeding in the truck along the road, it would take us hours of trekking through the forest to cover the same distance. We had plenty of shade from the trees, but it was still hot. I felt sweat trickle down my stomach and neck even without my jacket on.

We didn't speak, not because we weren't in the mood to converse, but because we were panting too much for speech. One could thing I could say about being tired is that it allowed us to forget how hungry we were. It also gave me a chance to think.

The plan was to head west. What happens if west was the same as it was here? What if there was no safety there? Does that mean we wonder around like this until we were caught or killed? I forced the thoughts down before the fear consumed me. Right now, I wanted to only think of the car and the air conditioning it would offer.

It was harder to travel this way. I was unused to the terrain which was uneven compared to pavement and streets. And Michael and I moved slowly and quietly, stopping often in we attracted the attention of demons. My feet were beginning to blister and my breathing was becoming ragged. I had thought I was in better shape.

"We can stop and rest here." Emmi motioned to a shaded area that seemed heavenly.

I dropped onto my knees to let Sunny off and just couldn't get up. I felt the weight of the world on my shoulders as hunger, exhaustion, and the heat swept in around me. I stretched across the grass and was pleased that the grass here was still moist from dew and pressed my face against the leaves.

"God, I wished I had some water." Michael moaned as he dropped the tent.

"Don't say that," I muttered now feeling thirsty.

"I could scout around and find water," Emmi offered. "I saw a rabbit scoot under the bushes so there's a water source somewhere. Maybe a stream somewhere."

"No, no, we don't have time. I want us in a car and on the road before nightfall," I said.

""Then there might be water bottles in the gas station."

"Only if its empty. I don't want us taking any unnecessary risks," I muttered. I curled up on my side and murmured, "We're just going to take a breather here for a few minutes and then we'll continue."

"Can I least see if I can make some clubs for us out of limbs? If those things are still at the station . . ."

"Yeah, that sounds like a good idea." I was so tired. I silently prayed that I wasn't getting sick. We couldn't afford that. I just needed a minute to recover, just a minute.

I fell asleep.

* * *

I didn't dream. I hated dreaming because it brought back images of things I would rather forget. When the shelter was attack and everyone screaming and stampeding for the exits. People were trampled and there was an old man in a wheelchair begging someone to help him. No one did. Not even me.

But in the darkness without sleep, I heard voices.

They burbled in my hears and I wasn't able to make out their words. However, I was able to determine that it was two voices speaking. One was rough with a hissy undertone and the other was soft and young. As consciousness brought me up from deep sleep, I felt the grass tickling my cheek and smelled the earth.

"Can you go find Daddy?"

"Your father can't be found in this world, child."

"Oh."

I fell back into sleep, unable to make sense of what I heard.

* * *

When I woke up, I barely remember what I heard. Sunny was humming toying with small nuts and flowers. I pushed myself up onto my knees and looked around for Michael and Emmi.

"Where's your sister and Michael?"

"They went ahead to get the car."

My blood turned to ice. "Oh my god, why didn't they wake me up?"

"They told me that you were really really tired and that they would be really really careful." Sunny fiddled with a small white flower.

"Shit." I stood up and rubbed the bridge of my nose. All the things that could wrong crossed through my mind. What if they got hurt on the way there, what if a demon found me and Sunny while I slept, what if those two never came back? How the hell could I have fallen asleep like that?

I noticed the sweltering heat and realized that the sun was higher in the sky. "Sunny, how long was I asleep?"

"A long long time. Michael tried to wake you up, but you didn't wake up. They said that I had to stay with you." Sunny watched me stand up. "Michael even hit you in the face."

"Dammit," I muttered. I touched my cheek and felt the forming bruise there. How hard did Michael hit me and I still didn't wake up? What the hell happened to me?

Putting the concern of what happened to me aside, I took deep breaths to keep from panicking. Michael was strong and resourceful and Emmi was skillful with a bow. They should both be fine, but then again they were like oil and fire together. I could easily see them arguing outside the gas station and attracting those things. Emmi could get away, but Michael isn't as familiar in the woods as she.

Should I stay or should I go? I had Sunny to take care of. Right now, she seemed to be oblivious to my concerns or the potential danger around us.

I decided to wait. It was safe here for now and Emmi and Michael would know to come back for us here. I sat down beside Sunny and watch her play. I engrossed myself in her actions to ignore the ache of hunger and weariness in my bones. I tried not to think about how much I wanted a warm shower and a decent meal. I combed my fingers through Sunny's hair and realized that I should have taken time to wash it when I had the chance.

"Do you think my Daddy is on another world?" Sunny asked.

The chill that faded came back as I felt a familiarity with this question. "Why do you ask that?"

"If he can't be found in this world, then that must mean he's in another, right?" She looked at me hopefully.

"Maybe, if there are other worlds."

A sort of epiphany came to me. We call the monsters demons, so that must mean they came from Hell. Hell had always been considered a place where sinners go to and where demons came from. Could it be possible that Hell isn't just some imagined nor terrible spiritual place, but an actual world? The demons were solid and real enough to kill plenty of times. If Hell was real, then what about Heaven? Where were the angels?

"How do you go to other worlds?" Sunny asked me.

"Before all of this, I would have said by rocket ship, but now I think it's the same way the demons came here." I rubbed her back, "Try not to think about it, hon, your Daddy will find us soon."

The lie tasted bad in my mouth. However, there was something else I was curious about. "Sunny, did . . . did Simon tell you about different worlds?"

Sunny didn't reply. She dug at the dirt with a stick without looking at me. I felt the hair raise on the back of my neck, "Sunny, does Simon talk to you a lot?"

"Sometimes he talks to me a lot, sometimes he doesn't come see me for a long time."

I remembered what Emmi told me about Simon. That she started talking to him when she was three so wouldn't that mean that he came around last year. Months before the demons came so there shouldn't be a connection. However, I thought about what Michael told me last night about being watched and the shadow moving. On two occasions I have seen a slip of shadow and both times Sunny was around.

A logical side of myself told me that children had imaginary friends all the time. They aren't real, only to the child. But another part of me that had emerged since I first saw the demons said that nothing was impossible in this world now. After everything I've seen, I wouldn't be too surprised if Big Foot and the Loch Ness monsters were real.

"Sunny, what does Simon look like?"

Before she could answer, Emmi appeared startling me. "Thank God, you're awake!"

The sight of her brought me so much relief I could have floated off the ground. And I could also see the relief in her face that I was awake. Once the relief settled, I wanted to get angry and yell at her, but she held out something wonderful. A bottle of water.

* * *

When I had fallen asleep, both Michael and Emmi had called my name and even shook me. Emmi admitted that Michael even swatted my face several times to awaken me. Michael was the one to suggest that they go ahead and get the car and come back for me and Sunny.

"You shouldn't have left us there alone."

"We didn't know what else to do. You were the one who said that we needed a car before sundown," Emmi pointed out.

"Did you get the car? Is Michael okay?" I trudged along with her, holding onto Sunny's hand.

"Yeah, he's fine. One of the zombies grabbed him, but he was able to bash it's head in with a pipe he found. He's waiting at the car right now." Emmi hefted the tent over her shoulder. "But this is going to make you really happy. We cleared out the gas station and it hadn't been touched. I mean all the food and stuff is still on the shelves!"

"Then it looks like the monsters inside kept other people away from it," I said thoughtfully.

"Yeah, and there was several first aid kits and medicine like Tylenol and cold medicine. Also, Michael says that the car's tank is nearly full. The people who owned it got to fill it up before . . . whatever happened to them." Emmi seemed more chipper, her mood was more lifted. "We can spend the night in the station and eat as much as we want and still have plenty!"

We climbed up the steep incline toward the road where Michael was waiting with the car. His shirt was torn, but he was fine. In fact, he was munching on a package of stale cookies and loving it.

* * *

We ate well that night. There were flashlights and batteries a plenty. We may have lost a lot yesterday, but we got a lot more back in return. It was pleasant to see the kids actually getting along. They shared school stories and talked about their home lives.

We were sitting on the floor with a pile of food in the center and helped ourselves. It reminded me of the days where I ate as much as I wanted without fearing of there not being any later. There was so much to enjoy.

"Sunny, stop, don't eat so fast, you're going to get sick," Emmi said. Sunny was gobbling down packs of cookies and downing it with soda.

I reached over and took Emmi's arm, "We need to talk outside."

Emmi looked at me curiously, but she got up and came with me outside. Night had fallen and we parked the car by the gas pumps lest someone or something notice it out of place. Near the doors was a bench where once before men might have drank a beer and shared stories on a hot afternoon. I sat down with Emmi and tried to plan what I was going to say.

"Emmi, it's . . .it's about . . . well, Simon." I spoke in a hush voice. Not because I was afraid Sunny and Michael could hear me.

Emmi's eyebrows rose as she stared at me, "What about Simon?"

I glanced out into the dark night. I didn't see any shadow moving or anything to indicate that there was something other than us outside. "You said she started talking to him when she was three. She's four now, so just how long ago. I mean, how long before the demons came did she started talking to him?"

Emmi stared at me, quizzically and said, "Why are you asking me this?"

"I . . . Jesus, this is going to sound crazy, but bear with me. I think . . .I think I heard Sunny talking with Simon."

"So? She talks to him a lot."

"And I heard Simon talk back to her."

The chill in the air touched both of us as I said the words. Emmi swallowed, "When was this?"

"While I was asleep. I vaguely remember it, but I think I may have came around enough to hear it." I studied Emmi's face wondering if she believed me or not.

She didn't. "You must have dreamed it. Simon isn't real. He's an imaginary friend. He's not real."

"Right, but a lot of people thought demons weren't real, but we've been running away from them for months." I took Emmi's hand, hoping that physical contact would make her take her serious. "I know it sounds crazy and believe me, I thought it was a dream too, but then Sunny said something today."

I told her what I heard in my "dream" and then Sunny's inquiry about other worlds. "It may be a coincidence, but I've noticed things. Things that happen around Sunny." Then I told her about what I saw the first night we met them and in the bathroom. And then what Michael told me last night.

When I brought up Michael she scoffed. "It's just nerves. We're all on edge because of all the crap that's been happening. Believe me when the demons came I was jumping at every shadow."

"So was I. But there's something to this. Back to my question, how long before the demons showed up did she started talking to Simon?" I knew I was pressuring her, but this was too important to me. I wanted to confirm or disprove my concern.

Emmi was quiet for a moment and just as I feared that she wasn't going to answer me she said, "About a month before. Maybe six weeks before the comets Simon showed up."

"And have you ever seen her talk to him or play with him? You know like children do with imaginary friends?" I swallowed a large knot in my throat.

"No, not really. She would always say that had chat with Simon." Then Emmi's brows furrowed and then the color drained from her face. "There was . . . one time when . . ."

"What?" I pressed her.

"It's . . . well, okay, this is probably didn't happened, but a week before we left on the camping trip Dad had to work late. So I was home watching Sunny. Sunny was outside playing and I occasionally checked on her from the window. One time I checked on her, I saw that she was in her playhouse and that there was someone in there with her."

I felt goosebumps prickle along my skin. "What did you do?"

"I didn't do anything. I thought it was Tory Smithson from down the street. She came over a lot to play with Sunny in their playhouse." Emmi rubbed the back of her head. "So I didn't do anything about it . . .until I got a call from Tory's mom. Her mom told me that Tory was sick in sick and Sunny shouldn't come over to play until she was well. I got up to go see who was in the playhouse with her. When I got there, it was just Sunny. I asked her if someone had been there and she said that Simon had just left."

"But you definitely saw someone in there with her?" I felt numb, as if I was so unnerved that I was beyong feeling anything.

Emmi nodded, "I just assumed that it was my imagination. I don't know what I saw. But listen to yourself, do you really think that there's something hovering around Sunny pretending to be her friend? Like a demon?"

"I don't know. I don't think it would be a demon. If it was, wouldn't it have already killed us?" I rubbed the back of my neck. "However, I can't shake the feeling that there is something hanging around us and Sunny is connected to it."

Emmi leaned forward burying her face into her hands. She suddenly looked twenty years older which was a terrible look for a twelve year old. "I'll keep an eye out."

"Alright, so will I. I'll talk to Michael about it later."

Emmi looked at me and gave me a sardonic smile. "Ya know, if there is something hovering around, then it likely just heard our conversation."

"Yeah, maybe." I rubbed my eyes feeling a headache coming on.

"I'm more worried about you." Emmi watched me, concern written in her eyes. "You passed out this morning. Is that normal?"

I ran my fingers through my hair, "No, it was just the heat. I'll be alright now that we have water and a car."

"Good, because we don't have any doctors or hospitals anymore." She sat back down beside and toyed with her braid. "Yemina, do you believe that there's help in the west? I mean, where exactly are we going?"

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"We keep saying we're going west, but how far west? To the coast?"

I tilted my head back and looked up at the uncaring sky. "I don't know. I hope to God that we come across a military blockade or some sort of protection because I don't know what we're going to do if we hit the coast and there's nothing there. I try not to think about it because if I do, I . . . I get really scared."

"That's the first time I heard an adult admit to being scared." Emmi watched me as she twisted her braid between her fingers.

I gave a dry laugh, "If an adult says they're not scared it's because they're trying to be strong for you, but I think you're strong enough on your own. I'm sorry if that sounds selfish."

"No, it's okay. I only hope that its enough."

I hoped that it would be enough for all of us.

The following morning we loaded the car which was station wagon. It had a large backspace which we packed up with food and supplies. It took several arms with armloads of loot, but it was work we were very much proud to do. We took everything from candy to bags of chips. We took all the water along with the sodas. We left behind the spoiled dairy products. There was even a toy rack of which Sunny got her pick. Then once our treasure was packed up, we headed westward.

We drove for three hours and then we came across the truck. Or what remained of the truck.

The metal looked shredded and the front window was shattered. Michael stopped the car, "Is that our truck?"

I nodded. "Keep the car running. Emmi and I will check it out. Sunny, stay in the car."

Emmi drew her bow and I carried the pipe Michael found behind the gas station. We got out of the car and walked slowly toward the truck. Buzzards and ravens were wrestling with each other over two mounds on the road and with a swing of my pipe they scattered. I vomited all I had eaten the night before when I saw what they had fought over.

I recognized them only by their clothes. Their bodies were cut meat and splintered bone. The father and son had attempted to fight, but the shotguns that were laying on the pavement had been useless. We moved around the truck and saw what became of the woman and children. I didn't feel sick, but I felt very sad. We were around the truck where Michael and Sunny couldn't see so I leaned over and whispered into Emmi's ear, "Don't let Sunny see this. Nor Michael."

Then I saw that Emmi's eyes were brimming with tears. A sob broke from her lips and she whimpered, "I wished this on them . . .I . . .I wished all sorts of bad things on them . . but I didn't mean . . .I didn't mean for _this _to happen . . .I . . .Oh God, I'm so sorry."

"No, Emmi, no, no. This is not your fault. The demons did this. Not you." I grasped her shoulder and turned her to face me. "Do you think I didn't wish some harm to them? You think I didn't want to punch the woman's face in for stealing from my kids to provide for her own?"

"We're not your kids," Emmi muttered wiping at her eyes.

"I know, but I forget sometimes."

Then we looted the truck. We were able to reclaim the items stolen from us and theirs as well. They had no food thus the reason for their desperate need to take ours, but what they did have was two cans of gas, two shotguns with a box of shells, and clothes. We took it all. Needless to say the station wagon was brimming and we had to pack things in the back between Sunny and Emmi. We didn't allow Sunny out of the car and I was very pleased to hand her back her backpack.

"I don't think it was ever opened. I'm sure everything is inside," I told her.

"Thank you!" Sunny gleefully opened her bag and began pulling out her coloring book and crayons.

Then we were back on the road again.

* * *

Emmi fell asleep in the backseat and Sunny was quickly coloring. Michael drove while I rode in the passenger side. I had the map spread on my lap to keep tabs on where we were. We all decided that we weren't going to travel at all during night. The headlights would make us easy targets at night. Michael theorizes that the family had driven at night and that was how they were found. Just before dark we would go off the road and sleep in the forested areas.

As we drove, Michael spoke. "It's just a waste."

I looked at him, "What is?"

"That family. I mean it sucks that they stole from us and it sucks even more what happened to them. But what if they worked with us. We could have cleared out the gas station easily with those shotguns and there would have been enough food for them and us. Then we'd have two vehicles and we could have traveled together."

"You're right. We could have worked together." I leaned my head against the headrest. "It just as easily could have been killed instead of them. Try not to think too much about it. We'll make it one day at a time, alright?"

"Yeah. We're a lot better off than hiding in that rail car." Michael glanced at me, "Ya know something. You've changed."

"How so?" I was afraid he was going to bring up my passing out.

"I don't know. You seem hopeful. You kinda make me think of my mom."

"Don't start calling me Mom, I'm young enough to your sister," I teased.

"Oh, c'mon, don't be like those old women that lie about their age," Michael jeered.

"I'm that old," I replied.

When was the last time I joked around like this? Maybe back in the shelter when we joked to forget about what was happening to the world. However, in the back of my mind, I realized that Michael was right. There was a difference between me and as I was back then. Back then, in that rail car I had been ruled by constant terror. I was still frightened, that will never go away, but it wasn't a constant ice in my chest. I wondered what brought about this change. Was it because Sunny and Emmi joined us?

For some reason, I felt a sense of peace while Michael parked the car off the road and we hid it with brush. We set up the tent together without argument and it looked as if Emmi and Michael had reached a truce and ceased their rivalry for now.

I sat down with Sunny inside the tent while Emmi and Michael fetched something to eat from the car. Sunny leaned against my arm and pushed her coloring book onto my lap. "This is what Simon looks like."

I looked down at the open book on my lap. It was the type of coloring books that had blank pages so children could draw freely. I stared at the image scrawled by a child's hand and all my peace shattered.


	8. Yemina 6

I didn't show the picture to Emmi or Michael. The last thing I wanted was for them to be paranoid and afraid. I took the picture and tucked it in my pocket and when I was able to dropped it into the campfire without any of the kids looking. The picture terrified me, but not because of the image itself, but of a deep rooted familiarity I had with it. I had seen it before and it had been a horrifying experience for me. However, the memory was elusive and I couldn't grasp where or when I had seen it.

While Emmi was putting Sunny to sleep in the tent, I was stirring the fire coals with a stick. Michael sat across from me fiddling with the pipe. He looked up at me, "It could have been us."

Perhaps he had seen more than I wanted him to see. "I'd like to think it wouldn't have, but then we don't know exactly what happened. Maybe demons had set a trap or maybe they did something stupid that attracted attention."

"Maybe." Michael thoughtfully laid the pipe down. "It's . . .like my mom say everything happens for a reason. I think, and this is going to sound selfish and ugly, that it was good for us that they stole the truck. It was them that got killed and not us. Like maybe, they paid the price for stealing."

I listened to him and stared into the dying embers of our fire. "Honestly, I think their luck just ran out. It might as well been a trap and it was just lucky for us and unlucky for them to take the truck like that. I don't know and we may never know. Shitty things are going to happen to people and to us before we get to the end of the line. I don't think it was the mother's idea to steal from us, but she went along with it. And those kids, I don't believe they understood what was going on and do you think they deserve what happened to them?"

"No way!" Michael blurted out looking ashamed. "I guess I'm still angry about it. I was scared as hell when they popped out of no where pointing those guns at us. I don't like being scared."

"No one does." I set the stick down.

"Are you okay?" Michael stared at me as if trying to see an illness in my face.

"I'm fine," I said quickly.

"No, Yemina, passing out like that isn't normal. I've seen you run for miles, vault over cars and trash cans, and jog up and down stairs in a single day of scavenging. And doing that with a full backpack that weighed more than Sunny and you couldn't you carry a kid on your back on a hot day." Michael counted off each point on a his hand.

"I was hungry too," I pointed out.

"That's beside the point. Remember when we went two days without food?" Michael retorted. "Is there . . something wrong?"

"No! Michael, I'm healthy. I don't have a health condition and it was just one time. It won't happen again." I made my voice as reassuring as I could make it. Deep down, I was concerned by my collapse, but I didn't have time to worry about my health along with the demons and other dangers of this new world.

Two weeks later, we were still heading west. Where someone could have driven across the US in days, it would take us weeks. We didn't travel at all at night. As soon as the sun went down we parked and slept. We ate like kings for the first several days, however I started rationing when I noticed how quickly our food was dwindling. It was met by small complaints by Michael and Sunny, but a severe reproach from Emmi silent them.

It was impossible to take the main highway as there were many abandoned cars. The demons have patrolled the highway so we took the back roads and would occasionally take a day off to rest in an abandoned building or to scavenge. Gas was never a problem as we often came across empty cars. I made sure that we stayed away from towns and cities. We stayed close to rural areas.

"They purposefully targeted major cities first," Michael said one night while studying an atlas.

It had been my turn to drive while he sat in the passenger side and made marks on a map of the US. He turned the map for me to glance at. "See, they hit New York, Atlanta, Miami, and Washington on the first day. At least, those are the places I remember hearing getting hit on the first day."

"I doubt that this goes without saying, but that's because they were the most densely populated," I replied before taking a sip of my daily soda. I limited us to one soda a day since they made Sunny hyper and they were useful in keeping us from drinking up all the water.

"Before the radio went down, I heard that cities in China and Russia were getting hit as well," Michael murmured thoughtfully. "I wonder why they're doing this."

"Well, I would think that being blood thirsty monsters was enough reason," I carefully rounded a sharp curve in the road.

"I'm not doubting that, but why are they doing this? Are they wanting to take over to expand territory? They're not feral or at least not all of them." Michael folded up the map and slipped it into the dashboard compartment. "Maybe if we knew why they were here then maybe someone could do something."

"That's understandable." I didn't want to share what was really on my mind. I didn't believe that anything could be done. The demons were already here and were doing their damage. We could only hope that maybe they would grow tire of the slaughter and move on.

On the fifteenth day of traveling, Sunny got sick.

We were taken a southern path after Emmi reported seeing a caravan of demons heading north. We opted to do in the opposite direction of the demons even if it was the roundabout way. On the way, we noticed that Sunny was becoming quiet and tired. Emmi reported that she was had a fever. Emmi gave her a children's dose of fever reliever, however the sickness worsened.

"I think it's the traveling," Emmi said. We had parked the car at the edge of the road for the night. Sunny was sleeping in the back with a feverish face and panting. "She's just not getting any better."

"We could find a place to stop for a few days." Michael muttered poring over a map we had become accustomed to seeing in his hands. "I think there's a cabin by a lake further south. It's isolated so it'll likely be safe unless someone had already moved in."

"It's a chance we'll have to take. If it's untouched then it'll have more supplies," Emmi spoke up. "And the lake will have fish and I can hunt."

Then it was settled. I drove and Michael directed me. I told myself that children got sick all the time, but then mothers would take their children to doctors and get medicine. I wish we had a thermometer so we could see how high her temperature was. Could it be an infection? We had no antibiotics to help her.

"Michael," I said, "since we'll be on this road for a while, go ahead and see if there are any doctor officers or hospitals in the area. Just in case we need medicine that we don't have."

"Right," Michael replied knowingly and flipped through the pages.

Two hours later we traveled along the dirt road that would take us to the cabin. I was nervous as we were breaking one of our rules of the road against traveling at night. But we were so close to the cabin that I hated to spend another night in the car. Sunny had thrown up earlier that day and the sooner we can get her in a comfortable bed resting the better. And a cool bath if possible.

The driveway was nearly covered up by overgrown brush that I nearly missed it. I turned off the lights and had to drive slow. The cabin was two stories and the window shutters were shut. The front door was still closed.

"I don't see anyone." Michael was leaning forward peering through the window with squinted eyes.

"Doesn't mean that there isn't somebody in there with the lights off." Emmi was arming herself with her bow.

Just as Michael was grabbing his pipe, I quickly said, "Wait, wait, wait! If there is someone in there, we're not going to fight them for this cabin. We're going to ask them for help and if they tell us to get lost, we leave. No violence unless they offer us violence. Okay?"

Emmi looked as if she wanted to protest, but Michael quickly cut her off, "Yes, we understand. We're not thieves." He brought back the dark memory of the family and the pursed her lips looking as if she wanted to protest, but then nodded.

I took one of the two shotguns we collected from the truck tragedy. Though I told the kids no violence unless it was offered, I was planning on paying it back double if it was. I tuck the keys in my pocket and we headed to the cabin's front door. Sunny was asleep in the backseat sucking on her thumb with a stuff animal tucked against her chest.

As my eyes adjusted I tried the doorknob and it turned smoothly in my hand. I open the door and a horrible, but familiar smell wafted around me. My eyes watered and I nearly doubled over gagging. I forced myself to go inside. We found the source of the terrible smell in the main living room. It was hanging from the ceiling by the noose. He had been a heavyset man wearing slacks and a nice dress shirt.

"He couldn't hack it and killed himself," Emmi muttered. "At least we get the cabin to ourselves."

The way she said it so matter of fact was shocking to hear from a young girl, but then what was most shocking was that I had been thinking the same thing. "We'll need to cut him down and take him outside. We'll . . . we'll bury him in the morning."

"No, what if he comes back like one of those things?" Emmi said.

"If he was going to turn wouldn't have already done so?" Michael said. He was holding his hand over his mouth and nose.

"Do you want to take that chance?" Emmi retorted. "We should burn the body."

"We will, but not tonight. There's a shed outside we can put him in and barricade it." I shouldered the shotgun and said, "I'm going to bring Sunny inside. I don't like leaving her alone."

"Yeah, go ahead. We can handle this." Michael said as he drew a hunting knife from the sheath at his hip. It was a souvenir he found off the body of a corpse we found rotting in a wreck car days ago.

I turned away from their distasteful job and went outside for the car. Sunny was still where we left her. I eased her out not wanting to wake her, however she opened her eyes looked around. "I see water."

"Yes, honey, we're at a lake. We're going to stay here for a few days." I tucked her against my chest and when she curled her arms around my neck I realized how hot she felt. "Won't that be better than sleeping in a bumpy car?"

Sunny murmured a reply into my shoulder that I couldn't understand. I carried her inside and took her upstairs with a flashlight in hand. I opened the several doors until I found the master bedroom. The bed was neatly made as if it was never used. I laid Sunny down and began to undress her. I spoke soft comforts to her as I bared her skin to the cool air and hoped that it was a comfort to her.

I folded the blankets around her and told her that I would be back with some water and medicine. She didn't hear me as she had fallen asleep as soon as her head touched the pillow. I went downstairs and saw Emmi and Michael heading back inside.

"I think we know why he hung himself," Emmi said. "There's a small grave outside near the shed. It looks like a kid's grave."

"Shit," I said. A cold presence came over me, like a chilling premonition. "Okay, go bring in our things. Sunny and I are taking the master bedroom. There are two more bedrooms upstairs. You decide who sleeps in where."

"How's Sunny?" Emmi asked before I could leave.

"She's asleep, but she's feverish. I'm going to give her some medicine and hope that works. We'll see how she is in the morning."

I spent the night with Sunny. I lay with her beneath the blankets with my arm over her small body. I listened to her deep breathing and touched her skin to feel how hot she was. I kept hoping that the fever would break, but it wouldn't. Did she have a virus? Or maybe she had an infection after all? The only medcines we had were all generic brand pain relievers and cold medicines. I had no medical knowledge and I doubted that Michael or Emmi would have any clue.

There was the option of going to the hospital for medicine, but what would we get? What if we grabbed all the wrong medicines and none of them help her or make her condition worse? If her fever didn't relieve itself soon, could it be that there would be a second small grave outside.

I rolled onto my back carefully to keep from disturbing Sunny when from the corner of my eye I caught a movement from under the door. It was just the slow side of a shadow from the dim light in the hall, but I knew it wasn't Emmi or Michael.

"Simon?" I said.

There was no answer, but I felt the solid silence as if I had grasped something's attention. I swallowed and pushed down the fear in my chest. "Sunny is sick and I don't know what we can do to help her. If you . . .if you can help, then please do so."

Again, there was no reply. I waited and listened to my breathing until I laid my head down and tried to sleep. When I woke up that morning, Sunny was still burning with fever. As I dressed I decided to try giving Sunny a cool bath in the lake to see if the would break her fever. When I opened the door, my foot nearly knocked over a small jar sitting on the floor.

It was smaller than a teacup and it was made of light blue ceramic with a gold lid There was string with a tag tied around the neck. For some reason, I had a suspicion that the tag would say Drink Me. It didn't. It said, Add to water.

Without hesitating I went back into the bedroom. On the bedstead was the remaining water in the bottle I brought up to give to Sunny and to bathe her forehead. I unscrewed the lid and inside was a brilliant white powder that glittered in the light. It smelled pleasant like fresh clean linen. It felt fine like sand as I collected a pinch between my thumb and forefinger and carefully added it to the water. I resealed the lid and recapped the bottle and gave it a good shake. Amazingly, the water turned into a soft blue color as it settled.

I slipped my arm beneath Sunny's shoulders and lifted her to sit up, "Honey, wake up. You need to drink this."

Sunny's eyes fluttered as tried to focus on the bottle, "What is it?"

"It's medicine. Simon . . .Simon brought this for you." I pressed the bottle to her lips.

She took a small sip and then made a face, "It's yuck."

"That means its good medicine," I assured her and pressed it against her lips again.

I made her drink it all and then stayed beside her watching her. Slowly, her hot skin cooled and her breathing became normal. Not even half an hour before I had even her the medicine, she was asking if she could go outside and play after breakfast. I was so relieved, tears were in my eyes and promised her that as she could go outside to play as much as she wanted.

* * *

"It's amazing." I looked up from the fire place where I was warming up several cans of chicken soup. Emmi was watching Sunny playing from the window. "She couldn't even sit up by herself and now she's out there picking flowers and running around."

"Yeah, it is amazing." I raked the coals with the poker trying to encourage the flames.

The reality settled on me that Simon was real. My suspicions had been proven and not only that, the entity known as Simon knew that I was aware of him. However, he did help Sunny, likely saved her life in fact. Yet, I was afraid of him. What was his reasons for befriending Sunny and it happened months prior to the demons arriving. I felt that there was a connection there.

I remembered the picture Sunny drew. It was a dark creature with long arms and claw like fingers whose bottom half was smoke and tatters. And it's face was blank with no mouth, but many eyes. That was what Sunny said that Simon looked like and what else could he be than a demon. Why would a demon hang around a little girl without hurting her and saving her life?

I kept the jar hidden away in my pocket. I would let Emmi know about it soon, but first I wanted to speak to Sunny. "Emmi, can you take over? I want to check on Sunny. We don't want her to have a relapse."

I went outside. Michael was near the shed digging a grave for the father who hung himself. We had decided upon burying him next to his child instead of burning him. In the light of day, we searched the cabin and discovered that he had been a journalist who was vacationing with his daughter when the demons came. They had holed up here and maybe due to illness or an accident his daughter had died. Likely, not long after that he took his own life.

There was a wooden swing around the corner of the cabin and I imagined the previous child who played with it had loved it. Sunny was swinging kicking her legs to keep up the momentum of speed. I stood to the side and called her name. Sunny dug her shoes into the grass to bring the swing to a stop.

I knelt on the ground in front of her. "Sunny, I want to talk to you about Simon."

"Why?" Sunny asked curiously. Looking at her face, I could see how much better she was. Her cheeks were full and with a healthy blush

"Because I want to know more about him," I replied taking her small hands into mine. "It's alright, honey, you're not in trouble."

"I know." Sunny made twin grooves in the dirt with the heels of her shoes.

"Has he hurt you?" I squeezed her hands.

"No, Simon is . . . is nice."

I noticed the pause. "Really?"

Sunny thought about it for a moment. "Well, he says mean things. He says that Michael is stupid and that Emmi is a . . . he called her a dirty word."

"And he doesn't hurt you? It's alright to tell me if he does."

Sunny shook her head so fast her hair slung across her face. "No! If he hurt me then I wouldn't want to be his friend."

"Alright, that makes sense." I let go of her hands and stood. "From now on, tell me about each time he visits you."

"Do you want me to ask him to talk to you?" Sunny asked scooting off the swing and taking my hand.

I hesitated as my heart skipped a beat. I didn't want to speak to Simon as I was frighten of him, but then feel the weight of the medicine jar in my pocket. "Yes, ask him if I can speak with him."


	9. Cabin

Yemina

We stayed longer at the cabin than I intended for us to stay. It was the first time in a long time that we all got to sleep in a bed and eat our meals at a table. We each got to have a decent bath even though it was an all day job of collecting the water from the lake and warming it in the fireplace and then carrying it upstairs to the old claw foot tub. It was heaven to sit in warm water and scrub off months of dirt and sweat from my body. The bathroom had scented soaps we used and for the first time in months I felt clean.

The upstairs office had a small library of which I was able to pass the time with. I had several peaceful moments reading in bed while Sunny lay and color at the foot. Michael found a fishing kit and had been fishing in the lake while Emmi went hunting each day. Between the two of them we didn't need to dip into our food supplies much. We were relaxed and happy. We were able to forget about the hell our world had become. We had let our guard down and that had been a mistake.

* * *

Sunny

I know Yee-mina isn't my Mommy. My Mommy went away. I don't know why she went away. Daddy said that she went away to work in a really good job, but Emmi says its because she fell in love with Uncle Ross. She said that Mommy didn't love Daddy anymore and that she loved Uncle Ross more.

I miss Mommy.

But I would like Yee-mina is my new Mommy. She's really nice to me and Emmi likes her. So it's okay, right?

I miss Daddy most. Daddy rubbed my head and told me to be good and do what Emmi says. I have been. I've been good. Why don't he come home? Why don't he come home and see me be good? Did Daddy go away like my real Mommy did? Did Daddy get a good job or fall in love like Mommy did? Emmi says that Daddy will find us . . .but it's been a long long time and we've been EVERYWHERE!

I asked Simon to find Daddy, but he said that Daddy isn't in this world. I asked Simon if I can go to the world Daddy was and he said, "In due time."

* * *

Emmi

I went hunting because it gives me time to think. Sure, it puts food on the table and keeps our supplies up, but since finding that stockpile of food, I've mostly been hunting to be by myself. And cry.

One time I punched a tree so hard my knuckles bled and screamed loud and hard. I screamed at my Dad for getting kill, Sunny for depending on me, and the demons for ruining everything. Then when the anger dissipated, I would sit at the case of the tree so tired and drained. I didn't understand anything. I didn't want to understand anything. I just wanted everything to stop.

It was like those roller coaster rides. You get on and when it starts going down those drops and going through those loops, you realize that it was a much more intense ride than you anticipated and you want off. But the ride doesn't stop. It keeps going and going and faster and faster to the point where you got to puke. I was on that ride and I wanted to get off.

Then went I come out of the funk, I began to slowly count my few blessings. Yemina was being a surrogate mom to Sunny and has taken a lot of responsibility off my shoulders. Michael's an ass, but he's useful. He got the truck going and he did help in clearing out the gas station. And the cabin was safe and it was just so nice to sleep in a bed again. Oh, and eating at a table. Not on the ground or on the floor.

Then I got up, shoulder my bow and went hunting. Maybe I'll get a deer this time and we'll have a few days of venison. I didn't get a deer, but I did get a couple of rabbits. As I trudged back to the cabin I think about what's going to happen when we continued west. Would there be safety there? Or would it just be nothing but broken cities and dead downs with demons roaming and killing?

Do we keep traveling? Until when? Until demons find us? Until we run into a group of humans who are not as merciful as the family of thieves? Until sickness claims us as it nearly got Sunny?

I didn't know. I just didn't know.

* * *

Michael

If it was one thing I enjoyed doing that my step father taught me, was fishing. I liked just tossing out the line and sitting quietly until I got a bite. It was peaceful and allows me to relax. I feel the tension draining from my shoulders and stomach.

I was sitting on the pier next to the cabin fishing when Emmi trotted up the deck. "Anything biting?"

"Not really," I admitted. Some days were good, some days bad when it came to fishing.

"Good, then it won't matter if I take a swim."

Then she, I swear to God, took off her clothes. She shucked off her jeans and pulled off her sweatshirt to where she was wearing panties and undershirt and then jump into the water. I sat there in the yard chair like a dummy and watched her paddle around in the water. I finally reined in my line and twisted it around the pole and set it on the deck.

Emmi dunk beneath the surface and then sprung up. Water ran down her face as she blinked the water out of her eyes. "You can come in if you want."

"Naw, I don't like getting wet." In truth, I couldn't swim. I nearly drowned when I was a little kid and since then I didn't like water I couldn't see the bottom of. That was one of the things my step brothers teased me for.

Emmi floated face up, her arms pushing through the water to propel her along. I noticed that her body was developed for a 12 year old. Her soaked shirt clung to her chest and waist. I tore my eyes away telling myself that only creeps look at kids like that.

"Do you miss your mom and dad?" Emmi asked from the water.

"I miss my mom. My dad died when I was little. I got a step-dad and step-brothers, but . . . I really never cared for them that much. Not that I want anything to happen to them, but I hadn't really thought that much about them." I was being honest.

"Do you think they're dead?" She kicked her legs sending drops flying. Some of them landed on my shoes.

"I want to say no, but . . . in my heart . . . I know they're dead," I sighed rubbing my face. "One of the cities the demons hit was my home town. Before things got really bad, some people was saying that place was a crater."

"Damn, that's harsh." Emmi paddled to the pier and placed folded her arms on the edge. "My mom died when I was little too."

"Wait, I thought we were going to west to your mom's house."

"Nooo!" Emmi rolled her eyes. "That's Sunny's mom. We're step-sisters. Her mom left my dad when she was a toddler."

"Excuse me!" I snapped feeling stung that I have yet again gotten something wrong again.

Emmi was quiet for a moment, her chin on her arms as if she was thinking. "I hope Sunny's mom is dead."

Her statement caught me by surprised. "Damn, now _that _is harsh."

"I don't care. Angie was a bitch. I think Dad married her because he was lonely. She hated outdoors and didn't want to work. So she spend Dad's money on getting pedicures and her hair done. When Sunny was born, I was the one who took care of her because Angie was "too tired" to do anything." Emmi's tone was bitter and angry. "She thought I was weird because I didn't wear dresses or wore nail polish or spent less than five minutes doing my hair. Then she breaks my Dad's heart by cheating on him with his best friend and going away with him. We used to call him Uncle Ross. He came over a lot for Sunday dinners, I guess he was coming over for more than just the food, huh?"

"Jeeze, that blows," I said. "She never called Sunny?"

"Nope." Emmi climbed out of the water. I tried not to look as water rolled down her arms and legs. "Sometimes for Christmas Dad will buy a card for her and tell her its from her mom." She collected her clothes and said, "I really, really, hope they're dead. Not just dead, I mean suffered to their last breath dead."

"Damn, girl, you are bitter for a twelve year old," I replied.

"Thirteen."

"What?"

"I'm thirteen now."

"Since when?"

"Since last week."

I stared at her seeing her in a new light. She was a teenager now, but she was still Emmi. Tough as nails and mean as hell. "You could have said something."

"What? Have Yemina bake me a birthday cake? You'll make me a present out of sticks and candy wrappers?" Emmi shook her head, "I rather not dwell on the things I can't get, okay?"

"Sorry," I offered.

"Don't be. I'm going inside. Are you coming in or staying out here for fish not to bite your bait."

"I'm going in." I got up and followed her inside. I took this moment to watch her legs walk. Hey, she wasn't a kid anymore. She was a teenager now, like me. And it was okay if I was a few years older.

* * *

Simon

I watched them go inside. Puppy love at its finest, if one was a stupid lumpkin and the other has the personality of a demon with a thorn in its paw. They had their uses, but in the end they were extra weight. However, it was fortuitous that they were part of this group, I have to admit.

The Child was inside watching the Woman cooking a greasy meal out of rodents the Girl killed. The Child was drawing colorful pictures of better days. This time she was creating a picture of her toy house. She had hosted many tea parties there with inanimate objects in the shapes of friendly creatures. I was guest to such parties where there was nothing in the cups and the food was false. I attended these gatherings as it was a way to endear myself to her heart.

And I would need to become her most important confidante if I was to take her to fulfill our plans.


	10. Demons

Yemina

I woke up before they arrived.

Sunny and I shared a bed since we arrived. There was no other bedrooms and there was no mention of her sleeping with Emmi, in fact I believed that Emmi preferred to sleep alone. I found comfort in having a warm little body curled against me when I snapped awake from nightmares. Her presence quickly brought me around that everything was alright and I was currently safe. I was able to calm myself by stroking her hair and then fall back asleep. I rarely had a full night's sleep since the demons came.

That morning, I woke up when the sun had risen above in the clear sky and felt dread well up inside me that I nearly had a panic attack. I lay in bed for several minutes trying to calm down. Even Sunny's sleeping form couldn't soothe me. I got up and paced the floor wondering where this dread was coming from.

Then I heard the horses. I went to the window and looked out and saw the demons.

There were five of them on horseback and one of them held a thick black chain leash of a hell hound. I dropped to my knees in fear of them seeing me. Where was Emmi? Where was Michael?

In the back of my mind, I remembered that Emmi liked to go hunting in the early morning when animals were out and Michael was the same about fishing. Where was he? I scanned the pier and didn't see him. Was he hiding? Then I caught a glimpse of him in the water beneath the deck clinging to the pole. There he was, but where was Emmi.

One of the demons wore armor more elaborate than his fellows and from the way he stayed on his bleeding mount and barked orders I could safely assume he was the leader. Across his lap, tossed across his saddle like large game was Emmi. She hung limply her hair covering her face. I could see whether she was alive or not. The demon leader ran a large clawed hand over her back, caressing her, and I saw her weakly flinch from him. She was alive, but she was hurt. Seeing her in the position brought back the image of the woman tied and beaten across the back of a demon's horse who had begged me to end her torment. A plea that I had ignored lest I suffer the same fate. Now I was seeing that fate for Emmi.

Two of the demons had dismounted and were heading to the cabin. I dashed to the bed and shook Sunny awake. I placed my hand over her mouth as she woke up and whispered, "Sunny, listen to me. You have to be very, very, quiet now. Don't talk, don't cry, just be quiet."

I pulled her off the bed. She was wearing pink sweat pants and a white tee which she usually slept in. I tucked her under the bed and pulled the blankets off the bed and banked them in around her. Hopefully, if a demon thought to look under the bed, they would only see blankets and not a child within.

"Sunny, just stay here, honey. Do _not _move until I come back, okay?"

"O-okay." Sunny's voice was muffled, but her fear came through all the same.

I moved away at a crouch. I heard the door flung open and the sounds of heavy iron boots on the wooden floors. I edged out of the bedroom and shut the door behind me. My bare feet made no sound as I stepped to the hallway closet and stepped inside. I crouched behind a laundry basket and listened.

My mind was running rampant. Should I have hidden under the bed with Sunny? Should I have found something to use as a weapon? I wasn't thinking when I hid here, but what if it was the wrong spot. What was the right spot to hide? If the demons find me here, then they'll likely not search in the bedroom for her . . . God, I didn't want the demons to find me. I didn't want them to find me. I didn't want them to find me. The words went over and over inside my head.

I heard their voices ragged and speaking their broken speech. However, some how, some way, I understood what they were saying.

"Fuck that Orag. We've been out 'ere for three stinkin' weeks and 'e goes on and calms the first female we find for 'imself and not let any of us tumble 'er." The voice spoke with a thick accent in a nasal tone.

"Ye better shut it. Orag got ears sharp as blades and 'e don't hold with bitchin'." The second voice sounded older, more rough.

They were getting close to the stairs. I put a hand over my mouth and nose and tried to stifle any sounds my breathing may make. My heart skipped a beat when I heard their boots on the stairs.

"Orag's days are numbered. If the 'ellguard don't kill him, then Lord Baras will," the younger demon whined.

"Until 'is days are up, then ye best watch yore waggin' tongue lest it be plucked out," the older voice chasten.

Then their shadows passed over me. I watched them through the vented door and held my breath as they passed. They were too engrossed in their conversation to properly search. My heart stopped when one of the bedroom doors open. For several terrifying seconds, I felt like I was falling. I didn't noticed that wet tears were rolling down my face until the horrifying moments were over.

"Nothin' in 'ere."

"Then let's go and tell Orag there's nothing 'ere and go on back to camp."

"It sickening 't me that Orag's gonna 'ave 'eself a bedwarmer while we sleep with our dicks cold."

"Ye better shut it up 'fore we get outside."

They passed my closet and I nearly sagged with relief. They didn't find Sunny and they didn't find me. Hopefully, they wouldn't find Michael. Emmi, they have Emmi. How do we get her back? Can we get her back? Where were the guns? Why had we been so careless?

I must have sobbed or perhaps breathed too loud when I thought of Emmi as the door was ripped open and a hand the size of a large ham reached in and seized me by the shoulder. I screamed as I was dragged out.

"I knew I smelled female." I recognized the complaining demon by his voice. He wore fingerless gloves that seemed to be made out of flesh and his armor was notched in several places from many fights.

His companion, the elder, wore a necklace of teeth around his neck and each tooth appeared to have come from the jaws of huge creatures. "Don't get too 'appy. Orag'll give this one to Lord Baras as gift to git on 'e good side."

"Are you serious!?" The demon swung to his companion so fiercely I was nearly slammed against the wall. The impact knocked the air out of me and I crumpled panting dangling from the arm. "What about our needs!?"

"Stop whimperin' like a woman and bring 'er."

The demon grumbled as he tossed me over his shoulder. His arm hooked over my legs keeping me in place, but the vertigo from being hefted onto his his great height kept me from struggling.

You know how your mind shuts down when you are experiencing trauma or have heard horrifying news lest you go insane. That was happening to me now. I couldn't think or act except feel my body bounce on his shoulder as he carried me outside.

At the sight of me, the demons jeered and made promises of doing perverted things to me. I shut them out, not wanting to comprehend their sick intentions. I was dropped onto my feet, but my knees buckle and I flopped onto my rear. I was able to see Emmi's condition better from where I sat and she didn't look good. The whole side of her face was swollen and her eye had swelled shut. I believed that she was unconscious until she turned her head to look at me with her one good eye. I could only guess that she was looking to see if they had Sunny. I shook my head and hoped that she got my meaning.

Her demon captor, likely the Orag the younger demon kept complaining about, motioned toward me. "Ask her if there are others."

Before I could realize why he couldn't ask me himself, the demon with the tooth necklace hauled me up by the arm. His claws bit into my skin and he turned me to face him. Then he spoke in rough English, "Others. Where?"

"There are no others," I replied.

Then the elder demon turned to his commander and said in Demonish (what else could I call it?) and said, "She says there are no others."

"Hurt her in case she's lying," Orag snapped.

The demon backhanded me. The slap rocked my head and made me teeth rattled. I tasted blood as he yanked me back and gave me his broken inquiry again. I shook my head.

"She's lying, tear off a few fingers and let's see if she sings a different tune," a demon from the side suggested.

"NO!" I shrieked.

"No," Orag echoed me though his tone was calmer. "Keep her in one place. If there are others in these woods we'll find them ourselves. Tie her to a horse. We're going back to camp."

I noticed from the corner of my eye Emmi moving. I turned my head slightly, so as not to call attention to her. She was reaching toward the knife at Orag's boot. I needed to buy her time because I doubted she'll get it if the horse is galloping.

Before the demon interrogator could grab me I turned away and attempted to run. He snagged my by the hair and yanked me back hard enough to nearly break my neck. I shrieked as I grabbed at the grass and tried to halt our progress to his mount. _Hurry Emmi, _I thought, _I can only buy you so much time."_

I was lifted off the ground and tossed across the saddle. While the demon mounted and began tying my wrists behind my back and securing me to the saddle with straps, I watched Emmi. She had managed to curl her hands around the hilt of the knife. And then Orag noticed her moving and hefted her upward by the shoulder. As she was lifted, she pulled the knife free of it's sheath.

He said, "Tonight, I will teach you the delights of becoming a woman, my little Untouched."

Maybe he was going to caress her or perhaps kiss her. He never did whatever he intended as that was the moment when Emmi stabbed him in the neck. The demon captain would have bellowed his rage and agony, but instead it came out of as strangled croak and he knocked Emmi from the saddle. She plummeted and landed in a heap on the grass. The demons shouted curses at her and several of them jumped down from their steeds. I don't know what would have happened next, but then the angels attacked.

Explosions fell about the horses sending them into a panic. Demons screamed and the horse I was strapped to reared up onto its hind legs. The straps dug into my skin, keeping me in place. I saw Emmi rolled out of the way just as Orag's mount would have trampled her.

The demon captain felt a gauntlet hand to his neck wound and barked orders. Demons drew their weapons and shouted threats and curses at the sky. I looked up and saw the flourish of white wings and beings in heavy armor brandishing their own silver weapons while two of them held what appeared to be golden cannons.

The cannons fired against hitting an unmanned horse and pitted the ground. Then one hit the side of the cabin and to my horror flames and smoke drew forth from the hole. Sunny was still inside, my mind clicked together, and the cabin was now on fire. I struggled against my bond. _Please, don't let that girl escape demons to only to be burned alive._

Michael appeared at my side yanking on the straps trying to free me, but instead hurting me. I yelped as a strap dug into my flesh and said, "Emmi has a knife! Hurry!"

Michael turned away and ran to Emmi. He had to duck and dodge between demons, but fortunately the demons were too enthralled by their fight with angels to pay any attention to a human boy. The angels swoop down and engage their enemies. Blades of ebony and silver clang together throwing sparks while white feathers and dark blood flew in the air. I could barely see Emmi and Michael through the chaos. I watched the flames build and screamed for Sunny to get out of the house, but I was doubtful she could hear me over the battle.

Then Michael came back with the knife in hand and Emmi leaning heavily against him. She was breathing hard and was clutching her side as if she had broken ribs. Michael carefully took the serrated and cut through the straps while Emmi tried to hold the horse steady by the reins, but the horse didn't know them nor could it calm while age old enemies went for each other's throats. Michael accidentally cut me a few times, but he managed to get me free and pull me off the panicked horse.

I grabbed him and said, "Take Emmi to the car, I'm going to get Sunny."

"Hurry!" Michael shouted. Emmi passed out and Michael hefted her up into his arms and carried her toward the car.

I charged toward the cabin. I threw open the door and gagged as I was blasted by smoke and heat. The smoke was so thick I couldn't see more than a foot ahead of me. Fortunately, we had stayed in this cabin long enough I was familiar with the layout, but it still took more time than I would have liked for me to get to the stairs. At this time my eyes were watering and I was coughing uncontrollably. I crawled up the stairs so I could spare my lungs of the thicker smoke. I shouted Sunny's name over and over as I crawled to the bedroom door.

My vision swam before my eyes and I realized that I was close to passing out myself. I bit my lip till I drew blood to keep me conscious. Then I was grabbed by the shoulders and hauled up. I screamed believing it to be a demon, but it was Michael. He had pulled the neck of his shirt over his mouth and nose to block out the smoke. "Sunny's outside with us! C'mon!"

He nearly carried me outside. When we came out of the house, I dragged fresh air into my lungs and it was the most wonderful feeling in the world to breath clean air as being in that smokey house. And Sunny was in the backseat watching us through fearful eyes. I got into the passenger seat and Michael threw himself into the driver's seat and started the car.

Just as he was backing out of the driveway, I saw the younger demon charging us. His body was covered in wounds which bled black blood. Michael whipped the car out onto the dirt road and stomped the gas pedal. The car kicked up dust into the demon's face and we sped away. The demon roared enraged which was cut off short as an angel loped off his head from behind.

Only when the burning cabin was out of sight did I allow myself to pass out.


	11. Humans

Yemina

When I woke up, I saw nothing but a scenery of green. As my vision cleared, I was able to make out that the green was individual leaves on a branch that was pressed against the car window. I sat up, but my head swam and I leaned it heavily against the headrest.

"Yemina! Thank you Jesus and God!"

I turned my head to see Michael sitting in the driver's seat looking as if he was going to cry he was so happy to see me awake. He touched my arm and hair helping me to sit forward. He was babbling, but it was hard for me to understand him. Slowly, everything that happened at the cabin came back to me and I was able understand.

"I didn't know where to go or what to do so I parked the car and tried camouflaging it. I haven't slept since yesterday, I've been too afraid to sleep!"

I looked in the back and saw Sunny curled up on the floorboard while Emmi was stretched out on the backseat with the side of her face swollen and bruised. Her chest rose and fell heavily as if it was hard to breath even in sleep.

"Michael, how did Sunny get out?"

"I don't know. After you ran in, she walked around the corner with her backpack. I grabbed her and put her in the seat and went after you. She keeps saying that Simon took her outside." Then he took something out of his pocket and set it on the dashboard. "She said that Simon told her that this would work on injuries."

It was the blue jar.

"It may. Get me a bottle of water, please?"

Michael handed me a half drunk bottle of water. "Here."

Since water was so precious, I thought nothing of using water Michael had drank from. We had become accustomed to sharing drinks since this hell started. I open the jaw and Michael watched me sprinkle the dust into the water and swish it around to mix it up. I took a long drink and no sooner had I lowered the bottle from my lips, the nausea was gone and everything was becoming clear.

"What is that stuff?" Michael asked watching the bottle.

Medicine, very powerful medicine." I turned around in the seat. "Help me, we need to give this to Emmi."

"Holy shit."

Even when waking Emmi and pressing the bottle to her lips, she had a hard time drinking. However, I thought of pouring some of it onto a cloth and pressing it to her face. And sure it enough, it worked its magic. Magic, because there was no other word to describe it.

Michael and I watched amazed as the swelling went down. I was like watching a flower in bloom. Look away and look back then you'll notice changes. Gradually, Emmi's face looked normal, a little puffy, but fine.

"What is that stuff?" Michael asked again.

"I told you, medicine." I replied as I found a full bottle and sprinkled more of the 'medicine' into it.

"Yeah, but I've never seen medicine work that fast!" Michael said. "Where did you get it?"

"Um, Simon gave it to me."

There was a moment of silence and I took that time to try to get Emmi to drink. Maybe it was because the swelling in her face had gone or maybe the medicine work to clear her head also, but I was able to get her to take small sips. As I let her layd her head back down, Michael was still staring at me. "What? He's real?"

"Apparently." I set the bottle in the cupholder between the seats and screw the lid back onto the jar. "This medicine cured Sunny when she was sick."

"Why are you just now telling me about it?" Michael sounded sullen. Even betrayed.

"Because I didn't know what to think or do about it. I didn't tell Emmi about it either, alright?" I really didn't want to deal with any rivalry or jealousy right now.

I set back in the passenger seat comforted by seeing Emmi's quick recovery. I rubbed the bridge of my nose and asked, "So Michael what happened when the demons showed up? I remember seeing you in the lake."

"I heard their horses and I knew it was them. I . . .I panicked. I jumped into the water and hid under the pier. I didn't know they had Emmi. I thought they would see no one around and move on. I . . . I pissed myself in the water when I saw them go inside."

I nodded not blaming him, I was too glad that we were safe to be angry. "How far did we get?"

"I drove like crazy for maybe an hour until the low gas light went on. I got gas from some empty vehicles so we're at half tank in gas," Michael said.

"How much did we leave behind?" I asked.

"One of the shotguns and a box of shells. Some clothes, but thankfully that's all. Thank you, God we didn't take everything into the cabin or else we would have lost everything."

"Yeah, you're right on that. Oh, and we lost Emmi's bow and arrows." Which was the true loss as Emmi wouldn't be able to hunt and we lost a means of defense.

"What do we do now?" Michael asked.

"Rest for now. We'll wait until Emmi is better and we'll talk about what we need to do next."

We had several minutes of silence before Michael said, "Yemina, that was too close."

"I know." I sighed cradling myself in my arms. "We were careless. I should have had us move on after Sunny got better, but it was just so comfortable there."

"Yeah, I was able to forget about everything for a while," Michael said. "Still, by all rights we should have been killed."

"Yeah, but the angels finally came along."

"Were they saving us? Or were they just attacking demons and didn't matter if were in the cross hairs?"

"I think it's the latter."

* * *

When Emmi woke up, the first thing she requested was water. I handed her the water bottle expecting her to drink, but instead she crawled achingly out of the backseat. She clutched her ribs and stumbled toward the brush.

"Emmi, what are you doing?" I called to her through the cracked window.

"I'm taking a bath!" She snapped over her shoulder.

"With only a bottle of water!?" Michael holler incredulous.

"Yes!" She shoved through bushes and disappeared through the trees.

An ill feeling came over me and I got out. "Michael, stay with Sunny. We'll be right back."

Before he could respond, I slipped off after Emmi. I crashed through the bushes she went through. It was the late afternoon, a full day after we had left the cabin I then realized. I stepped carefully, realizing for the first time that I had left my shoes back at the cabin. I stepped carefully over sticks and stones to protect my feet as I called her name. For a few moments, I was afraid that I wasn't going to find her, but then I heard her shaky breathing to my left. She was there crouch with her back to me. I saw that her pants at her ankles pouring water across her thighs.

"Emmi?" I said.

She stood up and yanked her pants up. She dropped the bottle and it laid on the grass and the water drizzled out of it. "I'm fine!" She snapped buttoning her jeans.

"Emmi, what happened?" I didn't move toward her. She made me think of a terrified rabbit that would flee at any sudden movement. "Did they . . .?"

"No! No . .no, they didn't. They wanted to, but they didn't rape me." Emmi must have saw doubt in my eyes and insisted, "They didn't. I promise you."

"How did they find you?" I asked.

"I got careless. I was trailing a deer and I didn't realize they were trailing me until they were on top of me. I tried to climb up a tree, but one of them threw lasso and got me around the ankle. They pulled me from the tree that I fell and hit my side on the roots." Emmi picked up the water and screwed the cap back on. "I tried to fight back, but they are just too fucking strong. You just . . . Can. Not. Fight. Them. Not when they have you pinned down."

"I understand."

"No, I mean . . .you can imagine, but you . . .just don't know what it is until it happens." Emmi turned to me and I saw the tears on her face. "Their leader . . . he liked me because I was a virgin. And you want to know how knew I was one? Not because I'm so young, but because he checked. They pulled down my pants and he . . . he _checked!_"

I stood there feeling numb while she kicked the ground hard and undid her pants. "God! I can still feel his fingers touching me!"

I turned my back to give her privacy as she rinsed her thighs and crotch, trying to wash away the tactile memory of being molested. When she was finished, or more accurately, she ran out of water, she followed me back to the car.

* * *

"We got to go back. I got to get my bow." Emmi was adamant that we go back to the cabin.

"Hell, no!" Michael snapped.

And this time, I was on his side. "Emmi, we can't. It's much too dangerous. If the demons won the fight then they are likely prowling that area hunting for us."

"Dammit." Emmi smacked her brow against the back of the driver's seat. I could see how much it pained her to lose her weapon of choice. I hardly ever saw her without her bow close by. "I'll need a new one."

"I know. We'll find a sports store or hunting store that should have something you can use."

Michael likely agreed that Emmi needed a bow as he didn't contest what I told her. He was poring over a map, "There's a small town thirty miles south we can check. With country like this, I would be surprised if they didn't have one or two."

"Okay, that's a good plan as any."

Emmi thumped back into her seat and muttered something incoherent under her breath, but offered no further protests. Michael consulted the map for a few minutes before starting the car. We left our hiding place and went south.

We had told Emmi about the medicine shortly before making our plans. She was skeptical, but she couldn't deny that the medicine had some unnatural quality. Save for some soreness, she was whole again without even the mark of a bruises. Where it would have taken weeks for her to heal, the medicine healed her in hours.

Also, I had taken Sunny somewhere private to talk to her about Simon.

"He said I had to go outside," Sunny told me.

"Did you go outside out the door? Didn't the demons see you?" I asked her.

"No, Simon picked me up and carried me outside through the window," Sunny offered. "He said that the angels didn't know the difference between a . . . between demon and their . . . um, he said a bad word."

"It's alright. You don't have to repeat what he said."

After an hour riding in the car, I already missed the cabin. The car felt cramped and the seat wasn't as comfortable as I remembered it. I leaned against the window and tried not to think too much about it. I tried to keep my mind away from stretching out on a soft bed and reading in comfort.

I worried about Emmi instead. If the world hadn't ended, then I would have taken her to a specialist, someone that could give her the help she needed to deal with her trauma, but there was no help. I could only hope that she had the strength to overcome it on her own.

When we arrived at the town, I was amazed at how intact it looked. There were no usual signs of demons rampaging through the streets. It was just empty. No cars, no people, nothing. It was a silent ghost town. However, as we drove past an electronics store, I noticed that the windows were broken and the inside of the store was in disarray as if it was looted.

Michael noticed it too. "The bigger cities were hit first and then they issues evacuations to smaller communities. I think that happened when people thought things would go back to normal soon and tvs and stereos would still be valuable instead of food and medicine."

"So do you think that maybe some stores haven't been touched?" I asked.

"It's possible, but I wouldn't count on it."

Emmi leaned forward, "You seem to know a lot of what happened in the early days?"

"One of my friends had an MP3 player that could get radio stations. I kept listening to it to see if the demons hit my hometown."

We turned onto several different streets until we found what we were looking for. The front doors of the sports store were open and the windows were pretty much intact. I got out as did Emmi. I was wearing sandals that we had found weeks ago in an abandoned car so I didn't have to go barefoot. "Stay in the car with Sunny, Michael."

"Again?"

My voice took on a hard edge, "Yes, again."

I turned on my heels and walked away before he could argue. The shop had been ransacked, but there were some sports equipment such as baseball bats and gloves and various hockey padding. No bows or arrows.

"Sorry, Emmi, I don't see any bows."

I never got to hear her response as a gunshot echoed out and the only intact window next to me shattered and I felt a cold sensation travel up my arm.

* * *

Emmi

I screamed when the gunshot rang out. I heard glass break and I turned around in time to see Yemina collaspe against the wall with blood rushing down her arm. I stood stunned, not moving like a deer in the headlights until the second shot.

I heard glass break, but it was outside. Michael yelled and Sunny was crying and that was what propelled me into action. My father had me go through First Aid classes last summer and we had covered everything from poison ivy to gunshot wounds. I ripped off my left sleeve to make a tourniquet and tied it around her arm. "Yemina, can you hear me?"

She was breathing, but panting. I checked her arm and saw that it was a graze, but it was a deep and may have cut through an artery. I saw her curl her hand into a ball and I was relieved that she was able to move them. "Yemina, Yemina, listen, take deep breaths. You might go into shock and that's the last thing we need right now. We need to get behind the counter."

Yemina nodded through gritted teeth. She was definitely feeling her injury now. I slipped her uninjured arm over my shoulder and walked with her at a crouch, not wanting to bring our heads to window level. I heard three more gunshots and I cringed at each one. I lowered Yemina against the back wall and directed her to sit with her head between her knees. My teeth were chattering as I said, "Yemina, just stay calm."

Just then, Michael literally crawled inside on his hands and knees with Sunny clinging to his back. They looked as if they were playing pony, but the terror in their faces didn't took away any humor I would have found in it. I motioned for them to come over.

"Holy shit, holy shit," Michael hissed under his breath as he slid in behind the counter on his stomach. "I think there's more than one."

"Of course there's more than one. Cowards usually attack in packs," I muttered.

"They shot out the driver's side window. Thank God, I had bailed out with Sunny or else I'd be dead right now . . . Yemina! Shit!" He grasped Yemina's hand shaking her. "What the hell happened?"

"What do you think happened, dumbass?" I growled. "Quick, put pressure on the wound. She's losing blood and we have no way to replace it if she loses too much."

He did so despite Yemina's painful groan. Thankfully, she passed out instead of screaming. "Oh God, this is crazy. Shit."

Sunny was sobbing, hunched against Yemina. Another gunshot ripped through the air and Sunny shrieked. "I don't wanna be shot! I don't wanna be shot!"

Michael had the shotgun over his shoulder. I pulled it from his back, "Look, take this and blow away anyone that comes in here. They may not know that you have this since you didn't shoot back."

"I can't handle a gun and keep Yemina from bleeding out at the same time," Michael snapped at me.

"Sunny! C'mere, Sunny." I took her by the arm and pulled her around to Yemina's bleeding side. I ripped off my other sleep and pushed it into her small hands. "Sunny, I know you're scared, but right now you have to be strong and be brave. We need you to help Yemina by pressing this against her arm. You have to do it really hard even it if hurts her because if she loses too much blood, she'll die, okay?"

"O-okay." Sunny hiccuped.

Michael took his hands away from the wound, his hands covered in blood. Sunny hesitated and then she pressed the cloth over the wound and held it in place. Michael took up the shotgun, "What are you going to do?"

"I'm going out the side window and get around behind them," I told him as I grabbed a baseball bat. I had the knife I had stolen from the demon tucked into my belt.

"What? You're going to go Rambo on them?" Michael said.

"If I can't kill them, then I can at least distract them long enough for you to get Yemina and Sunny back into the car . . ."

"No, they shot out the tires."

"What?"

"I could drive it, but it won't get us out of town."

"Shit."

There were several moments of silence between us as we both tried to think of a way out of this. It pissed me off that we escaped demons only to be killed by fellow humans.

"Ya'll come on outta there!" A man's voice shouted. "Ya'll come out quiet and we won't hurt ya."

Michael looked at me quizzically, but I shook my head. "No way. They're lying. The first shot was aiming for Yemina and it missed . . . barely."

"So what? You go out there and be all Rambo and we just wait in here and ambush them as they try to come in?"

"Yes. Stay behind the counter, If they want to shoot you, they have to come in around it. They'll have to get close enough that the shotgun can do serious damage to 'em. It ain't the best plan, but it's the only one we got unless you come up with something else."

Michael swore under his breath and nodded, "Fine."

* * *

I sneaked around the edge of a dumpster. I didn't have to go out the side window, there was a backdoor with an employees only sign on the door. I was able to unlock and duck out.

I bet that there were at least three, maybe five of them. The man kept calling out to Michael and the others in a cocky tone as if his offers of not harming them was a joke to him. It probably was.

I stayed close to the edge of the buildings, my back to the wall and my knife in hand. I had the bat strapped to my back, but the knife was easier to carry. The stupid bastard kept talking, making it easier for me to determine where they were.

I nearly crossed out into the cross hairs of a rifle. I glanced to my right to see a man knelt against the edge of a car. The reason why he didn't see me was that he was ducking down to light a cigarette. I moved forward and out of his line of sight before he raised his head to look down the street at the sports store the others were hidden in. I held the knife so tight that my hand felt numb. I felt sweat breaking out on my skin and the hairs on the back of my neck raised.

This was no different than stabbing the demon in the neck. No different from stabbing a demon that had molested me. But visually, it was different. The man had no horns, scales, or a misshapen face. His face was thin and worn from age and hungry and he had a grizzle across the bottom of his face. Like my father did before he disappeared.

He began to turn around and I lunged forward. The man saw me and I was too close for him to get his rifle up. I sunk the knife into his chest and then ripped it out to stick it into his neck. He choked and blood spurted across my hand, but I pressed the blade in as deep as I could as if I could push the hilt into his flesh. He grappled at me, tugging at my clothes and hair as he died. I pulled the knife out and sheathed it into my belt. I took the .22 rifle and checked it. It was loaded with ten rounds and checking his pockets produced five more. I loaded the rest of the rounds into the rifle and shouldered it.

I tried not to look at the man I killed. I thought that if I should ever kill anyone, whether on accident or on purpose that I would be a crying mess, but I didn't feel anything. I was just annoyed at how sticky his blood felt on my bare hand.

I wiped it on his pants leg. I noticed that the car he had hidden behind had tires blown out. It seemed that they have done this before to other survivors. My disgust was so bitter I nearly tasted bile.

Then I moved onward. It didn't take long for me to find more. They kept talking out loud to each other.

"Brick says their backseat is loaded with food. A hell of a lot more than that couple last week."

"I hope they got booze."

I could hear their voices from above. I glanced up and saw two of them standing at an open window. The only reason they didn't see me was because they weren't looking down at all. They were inside an insurance building at the second floor. They were so certain that their victims were in the sports store they didn't bother to keep their voices down. I carefully went inside through the main door which wasn't lock. These guys weren't smart. The stairs weren't hard to find and I could still hear them talking.

"Brick said that there's one boy, a woman, and three girls. Gonna be some fun tonight."

"I heard that one of the girls was a toddler or a little kid."

"Ya old enough to walk, ya old enough to fuck."

"At least there's a woman. I hope she's a lot better looking than the last one."

My mind flashed back to several horrifying minutes pinned to the ground. The smell of the grass scratching my face while several strong hands held me down while another exposed me. And then I imagined Sunny or Yemina experiencing that horror. I felt the rage roll through my veins hotter than blood. No, it wasn't rage. It was determination. I was going to kill each and everyone of these raping motherfuckers. I moved slowly toward a row of desks fearful that there may be more inside than just the two upstairs. They kept talking about their foul intentions toward me and the others and it just pushed aside all my fear and filled me up with the soul purpose of ending them.

"Dammit, I'm tired of waiting. I'm gonna go on in." I heard heavy footsteps on the floor above.

I swung around a row of cubicles and tuck myself beneath a desk. He walked across the office and I watched his dirty sneakers step past my hiding spot. I was sorely tempted on sinking my knife into his leg, but I knew he would scream and bring his other friend who would likely be welding a gun. It grated on me to let him go, but I could only hope that Michael wouldn't screw up and keep Yemina and Sunny safe.

I waited until I heard the door open and shut before I rolled out and got to my feet. I crept toward the stairs and went up. I glanced into a few rooms until I found him. He was standing against the window blowing smoke out the window. He reminded me of Uncle Ross. He was a chain smoker and he would smoke by the window to keep from filling up the house with poison. It made leaping out and pushing him out the window before he could react all the more easier.

* * *

Michael

"Shit, shit, shit." I kept reciting the word over and over like a mantra. Even though Emmi's plan made a lot of sense, I still hated that she left me alone with a little kid and a woman that may have bled to death with a bunch of psychos out there with rifles. They shot a few more times at the car and at the windows. None of the bullets came close to us, but each time Sunny screamed. I had the sick feeling that they were wasting their shots to elicit her frighten screams. Yet, Sunny never left Yemina's side and kept pressing the cloth tightly against the gunshot wound. Her small hands were covered in red.

They stopped shooting and I breathed thick and heavily, my palms sweating around the barrel of the gun. Did they stop shooting because Emmi got them? Shit, when do thirteen year old girls think they can go out and be a commando? Shit, I should have gone with her.

Sunny began whimpering.

"Hush, it's alright, Sunny."

"I'm not making noise."

I glanced over and saw Yemina's eyes flutter. She was pale with her lips just the lightest shade of pink. I leaned over touching her shoulder and said her name several times. She closed her eyes as if she was fighting off dizziness and said, "What happened?"

"You've been shot," I told her.

She turned her head slowly to where Sunny was still holding a cloth over the wound. She stared at it as her eyes struggled to focus on it. "Shit."

"Yeah, shit." I replied. Having her awake was comforting, but seeing her so pale and listless was also frightening. "Emmi went out to . . . 'get' them."

"Them?" She asked.

"The ones shooting at us," I told her.

"Oh." She leaned against the wall as if she was going to fall back asleep, but her eyes opened again. "I feel like crap."

"Yeah . . ."

Then I heard the gravel crunch outside. I hissed at Yemina to be quiet and drew forward curling my finger around the shotgun trigger. I peeked over the edge of the counter and saw the shoulder of a man leaning against a broken window. I motioned for Sunny to be silent as I waited and listened. The man glanced around inside again and I held my breath. _Come on in, you fucker. Come right on in and get close enough for the shotgun to take your head off._

And he did come in. He stepped through the window and his sneakers crunched the broken glass beneath them. He was looking around and was stepping closer to the counter. I swallow and waited. I made myself wait despite everything inside wanting me to stand up and blast him. No, I couldn't waste a shot and I couldn't take the chance of him firing back and kill me or Sunny or Yemina. I had to surprise him and kill him with one blast. A voice in the back of my head nagged at me. Could I really kill another human being? Then the scent of Yemina's blood filled my nose. They shot at her and all she had done nothing to warrant it. If I didn't kill him, he was certainly going to kill us. There was nothing to think about, nothing to regret. I just had to do it.

The man leaned over the counter. I shoved the shotgun against his nose and pulled the trigger. Pieces of his head rained down on me. I didn't blow off his head, but I certainly took most of it off.

* * *

Yemina

It was hard to concentrate. I was dizzy and felt as everything inside my head was sliding around. I wanted to go back to sleep, but I knew that I had to stay awake. Sunny was weeping beside me and Michael was shaking. He was covered in bits of red gunk and there was the smell of burnt meat. The smell worked like smelling salts and brought me around, made me more focused. However, my arm hurt like hell and it was hard for me to focus on what was going on.

"How long was I out this time?' I asked him.

"Half an hour," he said in a monotone.

"Where's Emmi?"

"I told you. She went after the bad guys."

Then I remembered everything. I shifted and cried out when my arm protested with pain. "Damn!"

"They stopped shooting at us and no more has come out after us. I think Emmi may have gotten some of them."

I realized what was clinging to Michael's clothes and my stomach lurched. I took deep breaths to keep from vomiting. "We can't stay in here. We need to get into the car . . ."

"No, the car can't take us anywhere. The tires were shot out."

"Then we'll get another car," I said.

"Shit, if we leave we'll get shot."

"But you said they stopped shooting," I said calmly.

"Yeah, but I'm not willing to bet my life on it."

I glanced at the window and saw the orange tint in the sky. It was nearing sundown. "We can wait till dark and then get a car. They'll have a hard time seeing any of us in the dark."

"Yemina, no offense, but you look like shit. I don't think you have it in your to stand much less walk." Michael peeked over the edge of the counter.

"That's why I'm staying and you'll take Sunny . . ."

He rounded on me. "No way, shut up, that's not happening. I am not leaving you behind. No, not after everything you and I been through together. If we leave, then it's because I'm carrying you on my back."

I shook my head, "Michael, listen to me, it's no longer me and you. Sunny is the one we need to think about. You can carry her out of here easier than you can carry me and get her somewhere safe. Maybe find Emmi too."

"Don't move!"

All of us turned to the west window and see a dark skin bow at the window holding a pistol on us. Shit, during our argument we had been careless and they had gotten around us. We didn't move, how could we?

The man wasn't a man, but was a boy of Michael's age. He had dark skin with black hair. The overalls he wore were stained and ripped in several places. He likely has been wearing them since the day of the Apocalypse.

"Brian, come on. I got them," he called.

Another boy came through the main doors and my jaw dropped. The boy couldn't be any older than ten years old. I knew they were brothers, they looked too much alike, with the same hair, eyes, and face. And like his brother, he had a pistol aimed at us. His hands were shaking so much the gun rattled between them. I feared that he would accidentally set it off.

"Brian, I got ya covered. You get the shotgun, alright," the elder brother said. "If they try anything, then I'll shoot 'em."

Maybe it was the blood loss or I was too scared that I just didn't care anymore, I spoke up. "So you're teaching your brother on how to steal from women and children?"

"Shut up," the elder brother snapped at me.

"We weren't doing anything to hurt you. We were just looking for supplies. We were just attacked by demons and we barely made."

Both brothers froze at the word demons. Instantly the younger brother asked, "Are they close by? I don't wanna be eaten!" He looked as if he was about to cry.

"Brian, get the shotgun right now," the elder brother insisted.

I kept talking. "Oh, yes they are about ten miles away. They were heading this way." In truth, I had no clue if there were more demons or which direction they were heading. But the little boy was frightened and I knew that the moment we lost the shotgun, we were screwed. I kept talking, scaring him from moving closer. "They have huge weapons still covered in bloodstains and body parts."

"Shut up, you bitch!" The elder brother aimed the gun at my head. "If you don't shut up, I'll put a bullet in your damn brain!"

I wished I cold have told Michael to shoot him before he had the chance to aim the gun elsewhere. I didn't care whether the gun went off and killed me. I think I was already dead anyway. But he was frozen with the shotgun grasped to his chest. Then Emmi came up behind him and stabbed him in the shoulder. He screamed and the gun went off. I heard the bullet whiz past my ear and impend itself into the wall behind me. He turned around bring up the gun to shoot her, but Emmi grasped his wrist and slammed it against the sharp shards of glass still attacked the window sill. He hollered as his wrist was sliced open. The gun fell from blood fingers and clattered on the ground. Emmi shoved him through and they both fell in a jumble of limbs and curses.

The boy was crying with his gun swinging back and forth between us and Emmi. She was so entangled with his brother it would be hard to shoot without hitting him instead. Michael finally came to his senses and stood up aiming the shotgun at the boy and shouted, "Drop it!"

He dropped it. His looked so terrified and miserable I felt sorry for him. And then Emmi was atop of the elder brother stabbing him over and over into his chest with her demon knife. The child screamed and ran out of the store wailing at the top of his lungs. I screamed for Emmi to stop, but she didn't. She screamed at him calling foul names as she continued to kill him. It was Sunny screaming that finally made her stop. She was panting with her shoulders heaving and the knife slipping from her bloodied fingers.

Surprisingly, the boy she stabbed wasn't dead, but he was going to be dead soon. The blood was pooling around his body and it spurted from his wounds as his heart pumped. His lips were moving and his words came out in dry croaks. "Shit . . . God, don't . . . don't wanna die . . .shit . . .the angel . . . the angel on radio . . . didn't want us . . . tell Brian . . . tell Brian that . . ."

I never found out what he wanted told to Brian as he died moments after his dying words.


	12. Epilogue and Arthur's Note

Michael and Emmi left to get the car. I wasn't in any shape to travel so I stayed with Emmi behind the counter with the gun in hand. She was tucked against my side and I had my wounded arm around her despite the horrible ache in it. I felt so tired as if I closed my eyes I could fall asleep. And cold.

Sunny's hands were still stained in my blood and I wished I had the energy to go to the car and get a bottle of water to wash her hands. I kept her face away from the body laying in a gelling blood pool and tried not to think of the horror in the little boy's eyes as his only family was butchered in front of him. Emmi said that she killed the others. That meant he was alone now. Guilt weighted on me for scaring him with my tale of demons.

"Why did they want to kill us?" Sunny asked me startling me out of my brood.

"I . . . I don't know."

"Was it because we came here?"

"Maybe."

"What's going to happen to that boy?" Sunny asked.

"I'm . . . I'm sure that he has a safe place to go to. Don't worry about him."

That's the best I could do. Lie to Sunny and try to believe it myself so I could abate my guilt. If I was a good person, I would have asked Emmi and Michael to find him and make sure he would be alright. No, we have no right. Emmi killed his brother, his only caretaker. And we couldn't take on another mouth to feed, much less one that we couldn't trust. I'm a terrible person.

Finally Michael and Emmi pulled up in a car. Michael told me that they had to look over several cars that had their tires blown out. It seemed that the bandits have made trap in this town. Wait for survivors to come and take out their only means of escape and take what and who they wanted. They had done it many times and it seems that this time was their last.

They worked together to transfer our supplies from the station wagon to a car. It was smaller and they told me our supplies would to be placed into the trunk of which I was fine with. They gave me a bottle of water which I used to rinse off Sunny's hands the best I could. I would love to get her hands under streaming warm water and just give them a good soapy scrub.

"Do you think you can stand?" Emmi asked me once she and Michael had everything transferred. "If we help you that is?"

I nodded. "Yes, just take it easy."

Emmi and Michael each too an arm and I was lifted to my feet. My head swam and I nearly buckled between them. I saw the faceless body on the floor on the other side of the counter and nearly vomited. I felt like I was in Heaven when I stretched out on the soft leather backseat and a blanket was draped over me. Sunny sat on the floorboard and held my hand. Emmi handed me a body of water with Simon's medicine mixed in. I took small sips and noticed that it had a jasmine tea taste to it. A steady warm flowed through me, making me feel better, but I still felt wrung out like an old dish towel.

"I'm turning on the radio." Michael said after he and Emmi got in front.

"Why? It's just static," Emmi grumbled.

"He said the angel on the radio." Michael leaned forward and switched on the radio. We were all started by the loud burst of static from the stereo.

"That just him dying. His brain was loosing blood so he was saying stuff that didn't make sense," Emmi explained.

"Still, it wouldn't hurt to . . ."

Michael had been adjusting the stations and then through the static came a smooth voice that spoke to us. It flowed over us as light at the end of a dark tunnel.

" . . . survivors may come to St. Johns Community in the county Parkinson south of Terrace. We have food, water, and protection. I am an Angel of Heaven and I was sent to aide you and guide you through these dark times. And also to protect you from any dangers. If you are of the Light, then we welcome you with open arms . . ."

* * *

Arthur's Note: And that ends part one. Thanks to anyone that has been following this story and reviewing. Reviews definitely keep me motivated and let me know if I'm doing something right.

Huge shout out to vampireyautja who is currently creating fan art and has my gratitude. I love ya, hon!

Second Eve was greatly inspired by Kirkman's epic The Walking Dead. If you haven't read them, then by all means do so. The story was originally going to entail Michael and Yemina surviving together, however I ran into writer's block and let the story stand by itself for a while until I came up with Emmi and Sunny and then it took off from there.

Yemina, to me, is the female version of the everyman type character. She's in her thirties and is trying to do the best she can taking care of kids who aren't her own after the Apocalypse. Every time I create an OC for a work of fanfiction, I take great pains to avoid the Mary Sue and I tend to create characters who are normal, like people you would see walking on the street or having a latte in a coffee shop. I try to make them human.

Michael is a teenage boy who isn't sure of what his place is in the world now. He has an idea of what he believes it _should _be, but ends up making things worse when he tries to fulfill this role. Often causing him to bump heads with the independent Emmi and Yemina. Michael is smart and is good with tinkering with cars and vehicles and also has a hand in lock picking.

I based Emmi off of Katniss from the Hunger Games books. And a little bit of Lara Croft from Tomb Raider. There's something about a teenage girl welding a bow that just screams independent and powerful female to me. She may have started off as Katniss when we first meet her, but I believe that by now she's like Carl from the Walking Dead, harden by the world and trauma that she endured. Emmi has a lot of rage that can be helpful in protecting the group, but can also harm the group as a double bladed sword.

Sunny is just Sunny. She's innocent, young, naïve, and full of hope. I can only hope that the Apocalypse doesn't drag her down before I start the next part.

Someone asked if the Horsemen will make an appearance. The answer is Yes, they will make an appearance and that is all I am going to say on that matter . . . for now.

My next project is go ahead and finish up Take These Wings. That story has been hanging for a while and I should just finish it up. Keep me motivated with reviews and maybe some fan art and we'll tie this story up with a nice bow.

As for White Mask, right now I am enduring writer's block with that story. I just can't figure out how I want to proceed with it. I have started several next chapters, but would change my mind before posting them. I can only hope that time and some careful consideration will help me with it.


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